Proxy Warriors: The Rise and Fall of State-Sponsored Militias

Ariel Ahram

Published by Stanford University Press 2011

Proxy Warriors

The Rise and Fall of State-Sponsored Militias

Ariel Ahram

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780804777407

Overview
Contents

About this book

The book explains why some Third World states have centralized, conventional military forces while others rely on militias, paramilitaries, and other non-state actors using detailed case studies of Indonesia, Iraq, and Iran and offers policy recommendations for dealing with weak states based on this analysis.

Author / Editor information

Ariel I. Ahram is an Assistant Professor in the School of International and Area Studies and the Department of Political Science at the University of Oklahoma.

Reviews

Peter J. Dombrowski, Professor and Chair, Strategic Research Department:
"Proxy Warriors makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the devolution of state control over violence to non-state actors within the state. It demonstrates that, contrary to received wisdom, decentralization need not undermine a state's internal security or even the ability of a state to guard against external threats. Thus, late-developing states may well have workable alternative institutional arrangement to those of the developed world."

Kai Chen:
"Proxy Warriors by Ariel I. Ahram is a timely contribution to the literature of security devolution. Ahram has rich experiences for teaching and researching in global security and politics of the developing world . . . Proxy Warriors is well written and easy to read. It is a gap filler in the literature of state-sponsored militias and serves as a base for future studies in this field. In addition, Ahram should be commended for the way his work enhances and refines the general reader's understanding of state-sponsored militias."

Captain Leonard M. Joyner II:
"Each of [the] case studies is thorough and does an excellent job of illustrating the ways the states used militias as security forces . . . The book would be a useful read for anyone preparing to deploy to a combat theater."

Daniel Byman, Professor, Security Studies Program:
"Proxy Warriors offers a timely, insightful, and often contrarian look at how leaders in developing states use militias, gangs, and other substate actors. Ahram offers important findings that explain states' different approaches and provides fresh policy prescriptions for the international community to manage, or at times live with, this difficult problem."

Max Manwaring, Research Professor of Military Strategy:
"Ahram builds and tests a theory to account for variations in the use of state-sponsored militias versus conventional armed forces among late-developing states, and offers a practical set of recommendations that acknowledge the salience of Proxy Warriors in the global security arena. An important read for both scholars and policy-makers."

K. M. Greenhill:
"Ahram builds then tests, using detailed case studies, an alternative account that not only upends current explanations but also aims to account for variation in the use of state-sponsored armed groups across space and time. . . The case studies are uniformly well written, and the evidence offered is compellingly presented. The book's thoughtful policy recommendations make it potentially useful for both scholars and practitioners. Highly recommended."

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Figures and Tables Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. The Origins and Persistence of State-Sponsored Militias Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
2. Indonesia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
3. Iraq Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	56
4. Iran Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
5. Learning to Live with Militias Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187

Language: English
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 208
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 4

eBook

Published: January 26, 2011
ISBN: 9780804777407