This is an MIT working group for individuals with research interests in violent non-state actors. Its aim is to examine why non-state actors resort to violence, what means and tactics they use, and what can be done to counter that violence. In that regard, the group will discuss works-in-progress pertaining to the production side of non-state violence (i.e. the objectives and organization of insurgents/terrorists/militias/warlords, their mobilization strategies and support base, how they coerce opponents, etc.) as well as the response that violence elicits from governments or other actors (i.e. counter-insurgency or counter-terrorism strategies among others). Though the working group is thematically driven, it will have a regional focus on the contemporary battlefields of insurgency and terrorism be it Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Colombia, etc. We are particularly interested in inferences from micro-level data coming out of these conflicts as well as in field accounts from practitioners with long experience in the regions.
Roger Petersen and Fotini Christia are the faculty sponsors of this working group. Peter Krause is the student coordinator. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Peter (pkrause@mit.edu).
November 24: Daniel Altman- “Understanding Terrorist Strategy”
5:00-6:30pm, E38 6th floor conference room
December 3: Paul Staniland- "Explaining Armed Group Cohesion and Fragmentation: Kashmir, Northern Ireland, and Sri Lanka in Comparative Perspective"
6:00-7:30pm, E38 6th floor conference room
December 10: Sarah Zukerman- "Achieving Post-War Peace: The Internal Politics of Colombia's Demilitarizing Paramilitary Groups"
6:00-7:30pm, E38 6th floor conference room