Lecture 1 Flashcards
Introduction to the Course
Conflict
an armed conflict is a contested incompatibility that concerns government and/or territory where the use of armed force between two parties, of which at least one is the government of a state and results in at least 25 battle-related deaths
use of armed force
use of arms in order to promote the parties’ general position in the conflict resulting in deaths (arms = any material means)
25 deaths
a minimum of 25 battle related deaths per year and per incompatibility (Gleditsch et al, 2002 (PRIO/Uppsala))
party
a government of a state or any opposition organization o alliance of opposition organization
incompatibility
the states general incompatible positions
incompatibility concerning government
concerning type of political system, the replacement of the central government, or the change of its composition
incompatibility concerning territory
concerning the status of a territory such as the change of the state in control of a certain territory (interstate, secession or autonomy)
minor armed conflict
at least 25 battle-related deaths per year and fewer than 1000 battle-related deaths during the course of the conflict
intermediate armed conflict
at least 25 battle related deaths per year and an accumulated total of at least 1000 deaths but fewer than 1000 per year
war
at least 1000 battle-related deaths per year
extra systemic armed conflict
between a state and a non state group outside its own territory
interstate armed conflict
between two or more states
internal armed conflict
between the government of a state and internal opposition groups without intervention from other states
internationalized internal armed conflict
between the government of a state and internal opposition groups with intervention from other states
guerilla warfare
armed activity, sabotage, or bombings carried out by independent bands of citizens or irregular forces and aimed at the overthrow of the present regime
revolution
illegal or forced change in the top governmental elite
rebellion
aim is independence from the central government
political assassination
politically motivated murder or attempted murder of a high government official or politician
riots
violent demonstration or clash of more than 100 citizens involving the use of physical force
PRIO Uppsala definition of civil war
fighting between two armed groups involving at least 1000 combat deaths each year
Kalyvas definition of civil war
armed combat within the boundaries of a recognized sovereign entity between parties subject to a common authority at the outset of the hostilities
(kalyvas) unlike revolution, civil war is a term that
conveys a sense of violent division often used as a metaphor for extreme conflict and widespread brutality
(Fearon) a common type of warfare is insurgency…
a technology of military conflict characterized by small, lightly armed, bands, practicing, guerilla warfare rural base areas
violence generally is
the deliberate infliction of harm on people
non combatant fatalities are not always
violent (Famine, Diseases) or could be unintentional
state terror is characterized by
coercion
genocide is
premeditated, purposeful, and centrally planned; it aims toward extermination rather than coercion - “intentional group annihilation”
reciprocal extermination
is a type of violence that emerges in multilateral, interstate or intrastate contexts where neither political actor intends to govern the population it targets for violence
