Armed Groups and the Balance of Power: The International Relations of Terrorists, Warlords and Insurgents

178 Pages·2008·0.98 MB·English

by  Anthony Vinci

Armed Groups and the Balance
of Power
This new book provides a framework for understanding the international rela-
tions of armed groups, including terrorist organizations, insurgencies and war-
lords, which play an increasingly important role in the international system.
Specifically, the book argues that such groups can be understood as taking
part in the balance of power with states and other armed groups, as they are
empirically sovereign non-state actors that are motivated by the pursuit of power
and exist as part of an anarchic, self-help system. This radically new approach
offers a renewed conceptualization of Neorealism, and provides new insights
into debates about sovereignty, non-state actors, new wars, counterterrorism,
and counterinsurgency. The approach is illustrated through case studies on
Somali warlords, the security complex between the Lord’s Resistance Army
(LRA), Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), Sudan and Uganda, as well
as Al Qaeda. The book provides insights into such issues as how non-state actors
can be integrated into structural theories of international relations, and also
offers pragmatic methodologies for the foreign policy or military practitioner,
such as how to best deter terrorists.
This book will be of much interest to students of international security, insur-
gency, terrorism and IR in general.
Anthony Vincihas a PhD in International Relations from the London School of
Economics.
Series: LSE international studies
Series Editors: John Kent, Christopher Coker, Fred Halliday,
Dominic Lieven and Karen Smith
The International Studies series is based on the LSE’s oldest research centre and
like the LSE itself was established to promote inter-disciplinary studies. The CIS
facilitates research into many different aspects of the international community
and produces interdisciplinary research into the international system as it experi-
ences the forces of globalisation. As the capacity of domestic change to produce
global consequences increases, so does the need to explore areas which cannot
be confined within a single discipline or area of study. The series hopes to focus
on the impact of cultural changes on foreign relations, the role of strategy and
foreign policy and the impact of international law and human rights on global
politics. It is intended to cover all aspects of foreign policy including, the histor-
ical and contemporary forces of empire and imperialism, the importance of
domestic links to the international roles of states and non-state actors, particu-
larly in Europe, and the relationship between development studies, international
political economy and regional actors on a comparative basis, but is happy to
include any aspect of the international with an inter-disciplinary aspect.
American Policy Toward Israel Ethics and War in the 21st Century
The power and limits of beliefs Christopher Coker
Michael Thomas
Armed Groups and the Balance of
The Warrior Ethos Power
Military culture and the war on terror The international relations of
Christopher Coker terrorists, warlords and insurgents
Anthony Vinci
The New American Way of War
Military culture and the political
utility of force
Benjamin Buley
Armed Groups and the
Balance of Power
The international relations of
terrorists, warlords and insurgents
Anthony Vinci
First published 2009
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© 2009 Anthony Vinci
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-203-88982-7 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0-415-46622-9 (hbk)
ISBN13: 0-203-88982-7 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-46622-6 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-203-88982-4 (ebk)
This book is dedicated to Pat and Nancy Vinci.

Contents
Acknowledgments viii
List of acronyms ix
1 Introduction 1
2 Armed groups 11
3 The international system 41
4 Somali warlords and militias 68
5 The Lord’s Resistance Army 89
6 Al Qaeda 111
7 Conclusion 128
Notes 142
Bibliography 156
Index 166
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the many people who have helped me in the writing of this
book. In particular, I owe a debt of gratitude to my PhD supervisor Christopher
Coker who advised me and provided valuable insights throughout the entire
process. I am also immensely grateful to those who provided comments on the
material that went into this book, including Matthew Arnold, Mats Berdal, Mary
Dinh, Rune Henriksen, James Mayall and Jennifer Rumbach. I would also like
to thank Andrew Humphrys and Emily Kindleysides at Routledge for their help
in the process of publishing this book. My gratitude is also extended to the LSE
International Relations Department and the University of London Central
Research Fund for providing me with funds for my research. Finally, I owe the
most thanks to my family, without whom I could not have done any and to
Mary, who had to put up with me while I wrote this book.
Acronyms
ADF Allied Democratic Forces
C3 Command, Control, and Communication
CAR Central African Republic
DRC Democratic Republic of Congo
ECOMOG ECOWAS Monitoring Group
ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States
FARC Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia
GoS Government of Sudan
HSM Holy Spirit Movement
IGAD Inter-Governmental Authority on Development
IGO intergovernmental organization
IMF International Monetary Fund
IPE International Political Economy
IR international relations
IRA Irish Republican Army
JI Jemaah Islamiyah
LRA Lord’s Resistance Army
MNC multi-national corporation
MOU Memorandum of Understanding
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NGO nongovernmental organization
NPFL National Patriotic Front of Liberia
NRA National Resistance Army
NRM National Resistance Movement
NSA non-state actor
NSC National Salvation Council
OLF Oromo Liberation Front
OLS Operation Lifeline Sudan
PLO Palestinian Liberation Organization
PMC private military company
RPG rocket propelled grenades
RRA Rahanwein Resistance Army
RUF Revolutionary United Front