Political Entrepreneurs and Civil Wars

Are some rebels more important than others in civil wars? While the existing literature on civil wars has developed theories and provided empirical evidence based either on structural features of society or individual preferences and strategies, we lack a micro-level analysis, where some rebels, namely political entrepreneurs, are distinguished from the “average rebel”. This may be surprising since studies on collective action and common sense tell us tbat not all actors are equal. Some actors and not others are the ones to encourage, organize and lead mobilization. The following research project aims to explore the micro-level of conflict, focusing on the role of political entrepreneurs in civil wars.

Emotions, Ideologies, and Unconventional Political Violence

With Stefano Costalli

The advent of radical Islamist groups, the birth of Isis and many violent events in the last fifteen years – including the recent attacks in Paris – have shown that ideologies and emotions play central roles in issues related to political violence. On the one hand, it seems clear that massive violence, especially when used against civilians, creates strong emotions that can have dramatic effects on individual and political decisions. On the other hand, emotional shocks due to state policies that are considered illegitimate can lead individuals to radicalization. Likewise, many insurgent and terrorist groups develop their own ideologies and their strategy can sometimes be understood only taking into account the objectives proposed by those ideologies.