University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2019 When Do Ties Bind? Foreign Fighters, Social Embeddedness, and Combatant Repertoires of Behavior During Civil War Pauline Luz Moore University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Eastern European Studies Commons, International Relations Commons, and the Peace and Conflict Studies Commons Recommended Citation Moore, Pauline Luz, "When Do Ties Bind? Foreign Fighters, Social Embeddedness, and Combatant Repertoires of Behavior During Civil War" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1542. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1542 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. When do Ties Bind? Foreign Fighters, Social Embeddedness, and Combatant Repertoires of Behavior during Civil War _______________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies _______________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy _______________ by Pauline L. Moore March 2019 Advisor: Deborah Avant ©Copyright by Pauline L. Moore 2019 All rights reserved. Author: Pauline L. Moore Title: When do Ties Bind? Foreign Fighters, Social Embeddedness, and Combatant Repertoires of Behavior during Civil War Advisor: Deborah Avant Degree Date: March 2019 Abstract How does the extent to which rebel organizations are embedded into local conflict contexts – i.e. the extent to which they “fit in” or “stand out” from local populations – affect their behavior on and off the battlefield during civil war? This dissertation examines why rebel group propensities to engage in governance and violence during war vary at the macro and microlevels of analysis and uses as its point of departure the presence of foreign fighters in the ranks of rebel groups engaged in civil war. I employ a cross-national analysis of insurgencies from 1989-2011, and also conduct a theory-testing comparison of the experiences of local and foreign armed actors within one conflict: soldiers in the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina during the Bosnian War from 1992-1995. Responding to limitations in explanations of rebel behavior ranging from governance to civilian victimization, I argue that combatants’ interactions that occur on and off the battlefield are contingent on actors’ embeddedness into local conflict conflicts. Using existing data on foreign fighters in civil wars, data from interviews with 50 subjects in Bosnia, combatant memoirs, as well as archival and secondary sources, I find that when soldiers are structurally and culturally embedded into a local context, they are most likely to experience war through fluid civilian-soldier identities that open doors to a ii range of nonviolent interaction. By contrast, soldiers who lack social ties into civilian communities and who do not share a common understanding of a war with local populations are more likely to resort to coercion and violence to meet their battlefield needs. The theory and findings suggest that understanding the broad scope of armed group behavior requires examining the social origins of rank and file fighters, and how combatants’ integration and assimilation into local contexts incentivizes violent versus nonviolent interaction with the local populace. iii Acknowledgements Many people played a part in shaping my dissertation experience. I am deeply grateful to those in Bosnia who willingly took the time and mental and emotional energy to share their insights and answer my many questions. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Minela Dzananovic, Dajana Zečić-Durmišević, Jasmin Džaja Durmišević, and Emir Slatina for their help in navigating cultures throughout central Bosnia’s towns and cities, and am also deeply indebted to the many people in Bosnia who I cannot name here. My dissertation committee has provided inspiration and encouragement. I feel especially grateful for the support of Deborah Avant – I could not have asked for a better advocate, critic, and mentor. Erica Chenoweth’s clear thinking, inquisitive mind, and in- depth knowledge has made me a better scholar, and Cullen Hendrix’s big questions and unique perspective have greatly improved this project. I am also grateful to the many friends and colleagues who shaped my graduate experience, especially Jonathan Pinckney, Joel Day, Kyleanne Hunter, Christopher Shay, Maria Lotito, and Sarah Bakhtiari. Finally, a great many thanks are due to my family and friends around the world. My parents and sister have enabled me to successfully pursue my goals and travels around the world. To Isaac, Sophia, and Sonya, who have been with me on this adventure since the beginning: thank you for giving me the best life. This dissertation is for the three of you. iv Table of Contents List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………………………………. v List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………………………………… vi Chapter One: Introduction.................................................................................... 1 Chapter Two: A Theory of Social Embeddedness, Foreign Fighters, and Armed Group Patterns of Behavior................................................................................. 31 Chapter Three: Evaluating Macro and Micro Implications: Research Design Overview............................................................................................................... 84 Chapter Four: Macro-Level Implications: The Effects of Foreign Fighters on Rebel Governance & Civilian Victimization........................................................... 99 Chapter Five: Armed Groups and the Influence of Outsiders in the Bosnian War........................................................................................................................ 151 Chapter Six: Evidence of Embeddedness in the Army of Bosnia- Herzegovina........................................................................................................... 210 Chapter Seven: Impacts of Embeddedness on Soldiers in the Army of Bosnia- Herzegovina........................................................................................................... 262 Chapter Eight: Conclusion..................................................................................... 328 Bibliography........................................................................................................... 359 Appendix A............................................................................................................ 372 v List of Tables Chapter Two Table 2.1 Summary of hypotheses....................................................................... 77 Chapter Three Table 3.1 Combatants in the Bosnian Army......................................................... 91 Chapter Four Table 4.1 Sample of foreign fighter populations.................................................. 113 Table 4.2 Summary of hypotheses & independent variable measures............... 115 Table 4.3 Determinants of rebel behavior........................................................... 122 Table 4.4 Effects of foreign fighters on rebel institutionalization....................... 125 Table 4.5 Foreign fighters & types of rebel institutions....................................... 126 Table 4.6 Effect of foreign fighters on civilian victimization................................ 131 Table 4.7 Summary statistics: Rebel propensities for governance and civilian victimization by foreign fighter type.................................................... 136 Table 4.8 Determinants of rebel behavior by foreign fighter type...................... 138 Table 4.9 Mean no. of institutions by foreign fighter type.................................. 139 Table 4.10 Mean no. of civilian deaths by foreign fighter type............................. 141 vi List of Figures Chapter One Figure 1.1 Foreign fighters in civil wars, 1989-2011.............................................. 21 Chapter Two Figure 2.1 Dimensions of rebel embeddedness.................................................... 71 Chapter Four Figure 4.1 Frequency of rebel statebuilding, 1990-2006...................................... 103 Figure 4.2 Frequency of rebel statebuilding by institution type, 1990-2006…….. 103 Figure 4.3 Civilian fatalities caused by nonstate armed groups, 1989-2011…….. 106 Figure 4.4 Frequency of civilian deaths caused by rebel groups, 1989- 2011....................................................................................................... 106 Figure 4.5 Typology of foreign fighter (FF) populations........................................ 110 Figure 4.6 Distribution of foreign fighter types across insurgent-state dyads..................................................................................................... 111 Figure 4.7 Foreign fighters in civil wars, 1990-2011............................................. 116 Figure 4.8 Civilian deaths in conflicts with and without foreign fighters............. 118 Figure 4.9 Mean annual governance score & counts of civilians killed................ 119 Figure 4.10 Density plot of annual civilian deaths caused by groups w/FF............ 130 Figure 4.11 Coefficient estimates of foreign fighter variables................................ 132 Chapter Five