In the absence of a strong state, insurgents, traffickers or tribal warlords may provide political and socioeconomic goods through arrangements we characterize as ‘complementary governance.’ When formulating an effective response to this security challenge, policymakers and researchers must account for the complex connections and interactions between multiple non-state governing entities.
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Tag | ISIS
Violent Non-State Actors and Complementary Governance: What ISIS, Hizballah and FARC Have in Common
By: Annette Idler and James J.F. Forest | Wednesday, June 24th, 2015Is Military Intervention in Libya the Answer?
By: Raeesah Cachalia | Wednesday, November 5th, 2014Three years after the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, Libya is far from the democratic state many had envisioned and hoped for. Instead the country finds itself fragmented into an alarming number of armed groups, raising fears of a full-scale civil war.
Countering ISIS: A Special Kind of Insurgency
By: Zenonas Tziarras | Wednesday, September 10th, 2014It is commonplace these days to refer to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shām (i.e. Greater Syria) – henceforth, ISIS – as the greatest threat to regional, international, and for some countries, even national security. As a product of mergers between smaller Islamist groups (e.g. an al-Qaeda affiliated Iraqi group) in the aftermath of 
Backgrounder – The Emergence of the Islamic State
By: Matthew Morgan | Friday, August 22nd, 2014The rapid advance in June of the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Shām (ISIS) across northern Iraq, capturing its second largest city, Mosul and threatening to advance on Baghdad, stunned global security experts and policy makers alike. The collapse and retreat of the Iraqi army demonstrates, more than anything, the abject failure of American policy
The Lesser Evil: When Does it Make Sense to Intervene on Behalf of Incumbents?
By: Danny Hirschel-Burns | Thursday, August 14th, 2014A few weeks ago, Edward H. Carpenter came out with two compelling posts (here and here) in the Duck of Minerva. In his first article, he notes that the Islamic State’s (IS) advance in Syria and Iraq is only one example of recent victories by mobile, non-state Islamic fundamentalist groups organized as networks. In his
ISIS’ Success in Iraq: A Testimony to Failed Security Sector Reform
By: Andreas Krieg | Tuesday, July 22nd, 2014The pace with which the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Shām (ISIS) was able to seize territory in Iraq since June 2014 has been mindboggling. What has been a stunning military success for the foreign mujahedeen of ISIS, can only be described as a humiliating defeat for Iraq’s security sector. The images of Iraqi security
Iraq after ISIS: Uncoupling Sectarian Differences from Political Contention – Part Two
By: Lawrence Katzenstein | Wednesday, July 9th, 2014While the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Shām (ISIS) has had considerable success in capturing land, weapons, and funds in Iraq, they now confront a wide coalition of forces emerging in opposition. It is hard to imagine that they will remain successful in the face of the support being offered by Iran, Syria, Russia, the
Iraq after ISIS: Uncoupling Sectarian Differences from Political Contention – Part One
By: Lawrence Katzenstein | Friday, July 4th, 2014There is perhaps no greater need for security sector reform than in a state on the verge of dissolution. Indeed, a good proportion of its security forces may have already left the field of battle in the face of foreign forces or insurgents. Such is the recent case of Iraq. Despite being numerically superior and
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