How External State Support Shapes Pro-Government Militia Use in Civil Wars

• In Event: Proxy War

Abstract

How do states augment their military capacity during civil conflicts? States regularly appeal for external support and/or collaborate with domestic pro-government militias (PGMs) during civil war. I argue that the form of external support provided to the host state critically shape whether the state seeks out PGM collaborations. When the host state receives foreign troop support, the state will avoid fostering new PGM relationships whereas when the host state receives material support, they will use these resources to recruit/establish new PGMs. Using data from the External Support Dataset (Meier et al 2023.) and the Pro-Government Militias Database (Carey, Mitchell, and Paula 2022) I find support for my hypothesis. The results shed light on how states involve other actors in their domestic problems and reveals when states are likely to delegate authority to sub-state militias in civil conflict.

Author

• Devin Brown, Texas A&M University