Irregular Armed Forces and their Role in Politics and State Formation

Diane E. Davis

ISBN 10: 0521812771 / ISBN 13: 9780521812771

Published by Cambridge University Press, 2003

About this Item

Druck auf Anfrage Neuware - Printed after ordering - Existing models of state formation are derived primarily from early Western European experience, and are misleading when applied to nation-states struggling to consolidate their dominion in the present period. In this volume, scholars suggest that the Western European model of armies waging war on behalf of sovereign states does not hold universally. The importance of 'irregular' armed forces - militias, guerrillas, paramilitaries, mercenaries, bandits, vigilantes, police, and so on - has been seriously neglected in the literature on this subject. The case studies in this book suggest, among other things, that the creation of the nation-state as a secure political entity rests as much on 'irregular' as regular armed forces. For most of the 'developing' world, the state's legitimacy has been difficult to achieve, constantly eroding or challenged by irregular armed forces within a country's borders. No account of modern state formation can be considered complete without attending to irregular forces.

Seller Inventory # 9780521812771

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Irregular Armed Forces and their Role in Politics and State Formation
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521812771
• ISBN 13: 9780521812771
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 235W x 157H x 30D millimeters 235 millimeters width by 157 millimeters height by 30 millimeters depth
• Weight: 845 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This book examines a variety of comparative and historical experiences in which irregular armed forces (ranging from militias, paramilitaries, guerrillas, bandits, mercenaries, vigilantes, and police forces to armed veteran groups) have struggled against or on behalf of national states. The study hopes to raise questions about the new political relevance of these types of armed forces. It considers the conditions under which they are more significant than conventional military personnel in supplanting or undermining states, and their broader role in national political development.

Book Description

Through examination of a variety of comparative and historical experiences in which irregular armed forces--ranging from militias, paramilitaries, guerrillas, bandits, mercenaries, vigilantes, and police forces to armed veteran groups have struggled against or on behalf of national states, this edited volume hopes to raise questions about the newness and political relevance of these forms of armed force, about the conditions under which irregular armed forces are more significant than conventional military personnel in supplanting or undermining states, and about the overall role of irregular armed force in national political development.