 Civil–Military Relations and Civil War Recurrence: Security Forces in Postwar PoliticsLouis-Alexandre Berg Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2020, vol. 64, issue 7-8, 1307-1334 Abstract: Does restructuring security forces reduce the risk of civil war recurrence? Prior research has examined effects of military integration in alleviating commitment problems, but the evidence has been inconclusive. Other aspects of civil–military relations have received less attention. This article examines the effects of civil–military relations in the context of postwar struggles to consolidate authority. It outlines three pathways through which security forces contribute to renewed civil war: by excluding rival factions and facilitating insurgent mobilization, by exploiting control over resources to challenge the regime, or by escalating incipient insurgency through repression. Analysis of original, cross-national data on postwar civil–military relations shows that reducing the potential for exclusion and exploitation through diverse officer appointments and robust civilian oversight lowers the risk of civil war. These findings emphasize the distributive effects of restructuring security forces and highlight the value of examining political contests around state institutions to understand why civil wars restart. Keywords: civil wars; civil–military relations; internal armed conflict; international security; conflict recurrence; conflict resolution (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jocore:v:64:y:2020:i:7-8:p:1307-1334 Access Statistics for this article More articles in Journal of Conflict Resolution from Peace Science Society (International) |
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