Beyond Armed Competition: The Logic of Rebel Groups’ Alliance Formation

ABSTRACT

Why do rebel groups decide to create alliances with other non-state armed groups? And with whom? The existing literature on alliance formation in civil wars is divided into two paradigms. The former paradigm is related to a neo-realist approach to power politics drawing from the International Relations literature on alliance formation. In contrast, the latter considers the role of ethnic and ideological constituencies in determining rebel groups’ preferences. These two paradigms of alliance formation, although non-competitive, can answer the previous questions in combination. This article aims to reframe the existing scholarship on alliance formation in civil wars and bridge the two paradigms by developing a typology based on the role of the coalition’s short- and long-term goals and its internal composition in terms of ethnicity and ideology. The typology also presents a more nuanced understanding of why and with whom rebel groups ally by identifying four types of configurations, differentiating between tactical and strategic alliances, and homogeneous and heterogeneous compositions. By reframing the existing literature within the paradigms mentioned above and bridging them with the typology, the article paves the way for future research, particularly by understanding how alliances might change and evolve during civil wars.

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Giampiero Cama, Fabrizio Coticchia, Gianni Del Panta, Ore Koren, Megghi Pengili, Andrea Ruggeri, Mattia Sguazzini, the Editors, and the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. See the Mapping Militants Project (MMP) website at: https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/about, accessed on March 21, 2022.

2. On this point, please refers to.

Mapping Militant Organizations. ‘[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)]’. Stanford University. Last modified [2019]. [https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/revolutionary-armed-forces-colombia-farc].

3. Turkey launched three major on-the-ground military operations: the Operation Euphrates Shield between August 2016 and March 2017, Operation Olive Branch between January and March 2018, and Operation Peace Spring between October and November 2019. In 2022, Turkey launched a series of airstrikes against SDF positions in a military operation named Operation Claw-Sword.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Edoardo Corradi

Edoardo Corradi is currently a Post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Genoa and Fellow at Civil War Paths. His research interests include foreign fighters' mobilisation, civil wars, rebel governance, and rebel diplomacy. He is also Assistant Teaching Professor at the Florida International University. His works have been published by Studies in Conflict & Terrorism and Italian Political Science Review.