Rethinking Civil Wars: an Overview of Literature and the Syrian Conflict Owart Ds a Structural Definition of Civil Arw
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The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Master's Theses Fall 12-1-2017 Rethinking Civil Wars: An Overview of Literature and the Syrian Conflict owarT ds a Structural Definition of Civil arW Mphatso Kaufulu University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses Part of the International Relations Commons, and the Political Theory Commons Recommended Citation Kaufulu, Mphatso, "Rethinking Civil Wars: An Overview of Literature and the Syrian Conflict owarT ds a Structural Definition of Civil arW " (2017). Master's Theses. 324. https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/324 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RETHINKING CIVIL WARS: AN OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE AND THE SYRIAN CONFLICT TOWARDS A STRUCTURAL DEFINITION OF CIVIL WAR by Mphatso Moses Kaufulu A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School, the College of Arts and Letters, and the Department of Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs at The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts December 2017 RETHINKING CIVIL WARS: AN OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE AND THE SYRIAN CONFLICT TOWARDS A STRUCTURAL DEFINITION OF CIVIL WAR by Mphatso Moses Kaufulu December 2017 Approved by: ________________________________________________ Dr. Joseph Weinberg, Committee Chair Assistant Professor, Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs ________________________________________________ Dr. Sarah Cate, Committee Member Assistant Professor, Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs ________________________________________________ Dr. Troy Gibson, Committee Member Associate Professor, Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs ________________________________________________ Dr. Edward Sayre Chair, Department of Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs ________________________________________________ Dr. Karen S. Coats Dean of the Graduate School COPYRIGHT BY Mphatso Moses Kaufulu 2017 Published by the Graduate School ABSTRACT RETHINKING CIVIL WARS: AN OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE AND THE SYRIAN CONFLICT TOWARDS A STRUCTURAL DEFINITION OF CIVIL WAR by Mphatso Moses Kaufulu December 2017 Civil War is a term often used to classify a type of conflict which arises within states. This being so, the exact criteria upon which such a classification of conflict is arrived remains unclear. Additionally, political, dispensational and ideological currents have influenced the classification of conflicts within states by different scholars, so that the determination of conflicts as being civil wars rather than some other kind of intra- state conflict can seem arbitrary. Beyond just the academic implications of this arbitrariness are policy impacts as well. This is because the term civil war carries with it certain implications about the nature of the conflict, and as such, mandates sets of domestic, regional and international approaches for resolving it. The idea of a civil war as a conflict which emphasizes civil processes as accompanying dimensions of military objectives is proposed to distinguish civil wars from other intra-state conflicts. The argument proposes that military forces aim to engender wider civil processes aimed at undermining the authority of a state, so as to realize specific political goals in domains controlled by that state. Domains controlled by the state, challenged during civil wars, include demographic (population based uprisings), politico-economic (balkanization of economic sectors and the establishment of political structures), geographic (captured state territory as well as natural resources), and international (establishing anti-state diplomatic linkages with outside actors). The Syrian ii conflict – in a limited case study – is used as an illustration of how this classification of can be undertaken. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the contributions of Dr. Joseph Weinberg for his overall guidance, Dr Marek Steedman for his generosity with his time, and Dr Edward Sayre for his support on the bureaucratic side of things. This project would not have been possible without their efforts. iv DEDICATION To my sister, for her love – and to my late parents for their faith in my sister and I. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................................................................. ix CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 Definition of a Civil War ................................................................................................ 1 Study Rationale and Research Question ..................................................................... 2 CHAPTER II – LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................... 5 The Two Scholarly Branches in Civil War Studies ........................................................ 5 The Term Civil War in Theoretical Scholarly Practice .............................................. 6 The Term Civil War in Empirical Scholarly Practice ................................................. 9 The Term Civil War and the Post-Cold War Period: Ideology and Liberalism ....... 14 Further Considerations: Civil War Political Economies and Spill-Over Effects ...... 16 CHAPTER III - THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ......................................................... 22 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 22 Outline of Theories of Civil War .............................................................................. 24 Theories of Civil War Onset ................................................................................. 24 Politico-Economic Theories of Civil War Onset .............................................. 25 International Relations Theories of Civil Wars ................................................ 25 vi Theories of Civil War Persistence ........................................................................ 27 Theoretical Contribution: Civil War as a Parallel Structure ..................................... 28 CHAPTER IV – METHODOLOGY (DESK REVIEW) ................................................. 33 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 33 Structuralism and Civil War ..................................................................................... 34 Structuralism ......................................................................................................... 34 Structuralism and Civil War ................................................................................. 36 Theoretical Application ............................................................................................ 37 Data and Analysis ..................................................................................................... 37 CHAPTER V – THE SYRIAN CONFLICT .................................................................... 39 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 39 Overview of Syria ......................................................................................................... 40 Political and Economic Conditions at Syria’s Independence ................................... 40 The Ba’ath Party and the Rise Assads ...................................................................... 43 Onset of the 2011 Syrian Conflict and Complexities ............................................... 45 Political Structures in the Syrian Conflict ................................................................ 49 Aspect One - Expressed Political and Military Objectives of the Opposition .......... 49 Aspect Two – The Parallel Political Structure(s) ..................................................... 52 The Civil Processes of the War Effort of the Free Syrian Army .............................. 53 External Actors ......................................................................................................... 56 vii Summary ....................................................................................................................... 57 Why Syria May Not Be a Civil War ......................................................................... 57 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................. 60 viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: Map of Syria showing division of territory as of September 6th, 2017................................................................................................................................... 39 ix CHAPTER