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WHY DO WOMEN AND CHILDREN JOIN INSURGENCIES? A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE PKK AND THE FARC
Title
WHY DO WOMEN AND CHILDREN JOIN INSURGENCIES? A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE PKK AND THE FARC.
Creator
Melendez, Stephanie, Tezc�r, G�ne? Murat, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Why do women and children join insurgency groups? The subject has been a matter of extensive debate, with experts offering theories of motivation on well-known groups such as the National Liberation Front (FLN) or the Irish Republican Army (IRA). However, there has been a small amount of work comparing two insurgency groups and their participants to one another. This paper addresses the underlying reasons for why women and children join insurgencies, explicitly focusing on the Revolutionary...
Show moreWhy do women and children join insurgency groups? The subject has been a matter of extensive debate, with experts offering theories of motivation on well-known groups such as the National Liberation Front (FLN) or the Irish Republican Army (IRA). However, there has been a small amount of work comparing two insurgency groups and their participants to one another. This paper addresses the underlying reasons for why women and children join insurgencies, explicitly focusing on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey from their origins to the present. The paper uses interviews from other scholarly works on the two groups and their participants. In doing this, the paper showcases that despite differences across geographic location and each group's motivation, there are similar indicators that motivate women and children to join insurgency groups. This paper finds that women and children are primarily motivated to join the FARC because of harsh gender inequality and economic poverty. Regarding women and children joining the PKK, their motivations primarily concern ethnic discrimination and gender inequality. The implications of this research will provide information about dynamics leading large numbers of women and children to join violent organizations. Furthermore, it will find that despite regional differences and group's overall goals, there are universal motivating factors, like gender inequality, which influence women and children to participate in political violence.
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Date Issued
2018
Identifier
CFH2000345, ucf:45756
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000345
The Causes, Dynamics, and Implications of Child Soldiering
Title
The Causes, Dynamics, and Implications of Child Soldiering.
Creator
Faulkner, Christopher, Tezcur, Gunes Murat, Powell, Jonathan, Dolan, Thomas, Whitaker, Beth, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Child soldiers continue to be regular participants in modern conflicts in many different parts of the world. This dissertation addresses several interrelated questions about child soldiering employing large-N statistical analyses, process-tracing, and in-depth interviews. First, it asks how foreign state support and the characteristics of these donors influence rebels' recruitment of child soldiers. An important finding is that rebels supported by democratic states are less likely to employ...
Show moreChild soldiers continue to be regular participants in modern conflicts in many different parts of the world. This dissertation addresses several interrelated questions about child soldiering employing large-N statistical analyses, process-tracing, and in-depth interviews. First, it asks how foreign state support and the characteristics of these donors influence rebels' recruitment of child soldiers. An important finding is that rebels supported by democratic states are less likely to employ child soldiers. It then investigates the factors and conditions that lead some groups to diversify their demographics in the types of recruits and others to not. Specifically, it considers why a rebel group would recruit children, but refrain from recruiting women. It examines theoretical arguments that contend group ideology, desires for patriarchal preservation, societal gender inequalities, and the location/type of rebellion (rural vs. urban) can each significantly contribute to groups' recruitment behavior. Third, it considers a question that speaks directly to the first two questions. What factors lead to the initial recruitment of children and how conflict conditions may impact the dynamics of rebel recruitment over time? An in-depth analysis of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) and the employment of a unique dataset on deceased Kurdish militants allows for an exploration of the temporal variation in the group's recruitment patterns over four decades. It illustrates that inter-rebel rivalries, conflict intensity, and the evolution of human rights norms shape rebels' recruitment behavior. The final section reorients the focus of the dissertation from rebel child soldiering to government child soldiering. It surveys the conditions under which the United States holds foreign governments accountable for their child soldiering practices through the restriction of certain forms of security assistance. In depth analyses of four norm-violating states and interviews with policy experts show that the strategic importance of a state and the systemic nature of child recruitment are strong predictors of when security assistance waivers will be granted. Together, this dissertation advances scholarly understanding of the causes, dynamics, and implications of child soldiering.
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Date Issued
2019
Identifier
CFE0007629, ucf:52541
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007629
Incumbent Violence and Insurgent Tactics: The Effects of Incumbent Violence on Popular Support for Guerrilla Warfare and Terrorism
Title
Incumbent Violence and Insurgent Tactics: The Effects of Incumbent Violence on Popular Support for Guerrilla Warfare and Terrorism.
Creator
Williams, Jonathan, Dolan, Thomas, Wilson, Bruce, Mirilovic, Nikola, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Insurgency has two main strategies, guerrilla warfare and terrorism, which should be treated as linked, but distinct, strategies. This thesis examines the role of incumbent violence in leading insurgents to select one, or both, of these strategies. It argues that incumbent violence can create support for insurgency by causing fear and a desire for revenge and reshaping the social structures of a community. It also argues that incumbent violence increases popular support for terrorism in...
Show moreInsurgency has two main strategies, guerrilla warfare and terrorism, which should be treated as linked, but distinct, strategies. This thesis examines the role of incumbent violence in leading insurgents to select one, or both, of these strategies. It argues that incumbent violence can create support for insurgency by causing fear and a desire for revenge and reshaping the social structures of a community. It also argues that incumbent violence increases popular support for terrorism in particular by creating outbidding incentives and desires to respond in kind to civilian deaths and as a way of punishing norm violations against attacking civilians on the part of the incumbent. The paper tests this theory with a qualitative case study of the conflict in Northern Ireland during the 1970s and a quantitative analysis of insurgent violence in the Kirkuk, Diyala, Babylon, and Salah al Din provinces during the 2003-2009 Iraq conflict.
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Date Issued
2013
Identifier
CFE0004959, ucf:49598
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004959
WAR IN PAKISTAN: THE EFFECTS OF THE PAKISTANI-AMERICAN WAR ON TERROR IN PAKISTAN.
Title
WAR IN PAKISTAN: THE EFFECTS OF THE PAKISTANI-AMERICAN WAR ON TERROR IN PAKISTAN.
Creator
Qureshi, Akhtar, Sadri, Houman, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
This research paper investigates the current turmoil in Pakistan and how much of it has been caused by the joint American-Pakistani War on Terror. The United States' portion of the War on Terror is in Afghanistan against the Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces that began after the September 11th attacks in 2001, as well as in Pakistan with unmanned drone attacks. Pakistan's portion of this war includes the support to the U.S. in Afghanistan and military campaigns within it's own borders against...
Show moreThis research paper investigates the current turmoil in Pakistan and how much of it has been caused by the joint American-Pakistani War on Terror. The United States' portion of the War on Terror is in Afghanistan against the Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces that began after the September 11th attacks in 2001, as well as in Pakistan with unmanned drone attacks. Pakistan's portion of this war includes the support to the U.S. in Afghanistan and military campaigns within it's own borders against Taliban forces. Taliban forces have fought back against Pakistan with terrorist attacks and bombings that continue to ravage the nation. There have been a number of consequences from this war upon Pakistani society, one of particular importance to the U.S. is the increased anti-American sentiment. The war has also resulted in weak and widely unpopular leaders. The final major consequence this study examines is the increased conflict amongst the many ethnicities within Pakistan. The consequences of this war have had an effect on local, regional, American, and international politics.
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Date Issued
2011
Identifier
CFH0003789, ucf:44725
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0003789
The Effects of State Leader Psychology on Civil War Lethality
Title
The Effects of State Leader Psychology on Civil War Lethality.
Creator
Kelley, Brandon, Vasquez, Joseph, Dolan, Thomas, Schafer, Mark, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Does a state leader's psychology influence lethality in civil wars? This thesis analyzes the aforementioned question during post-1945 civil wars. This particular subject, paying close attention to individual psychology at the state level, is gaining traction amongst scholars, though limited scholarly attention has addressed whether leader psychology is an indicator of conflict severity in terms of lethality. The psychology of the state leader in this thesis is assessed from leadership traits...
Show moreDoes a state leader's psychology influence lethality in civil wars? This thesis analyzes the aforementioned question during post-1945 civil wars. This particular subject, paying close attention to individual psychology at the state level, is gaining traction amongst scholars, though limited scholarly attention has addressed whether leader psychology is an indicator of conflict severity in terms of lethality. The psychology of the state leader in this thesis is assessed from leadership traits and operational code indices, specifically direction of strategy (I1) and interpretation of the nature of the political universe (P1). The data and cases used are pulled from datasets by Dr. James Fearon and the Correlates of War Project. The leaders' speech content is derived primarily from prepared material and analyzed using verbal content analysis via Profiler Plus. In measuring the effects of the predictors on my dependent variable, I chose the methodological approach of count data models, specifically, zero-truncated negative binomial regression. The results from the eight models I ran show that specific psychological traits, particularly a leader's I1 and P1 scores, level of distrust, and need for power, do play a significant role when determining the causes of civil war lethality.
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Date Issued
2014
Identifier
CFE0005358, ucf:50469
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005358