Foreign intervention and warfare in civil wars

Adam Lockyer*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This article explains how foreign assistance to one or both sides in a civil war influences the dynamics of the conflict. It submits that external assistance has the potential of affecting the military capabilities available to the belligerents. It then argues that the balance of those capabilities impacts significantly on whether the warfare in a civil war assumes a conventional, guerrilla or irregular form. These theoretical assertions are tested against the case of the Angolan Civil War. It is shown that during that war, variations in the form of warfare correlated closely to the type, degree, and direction of foreign intervention given to each of the belligerents.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2337-2364
Number of pages28
JournalReview of International Studies
Volume37
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2011
Externally publishedYes

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