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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 2:03 am
Time: 2:03 am
Results for militia groups
2 results foundAuthor: Cigar, Norman Title: Tribal Militias: An effective tool to counter Al-Qaida and its affiliates? Summary: Despite over a decade of open war, dealing with Al-Qaida and its affiliates in the Middle East is likely to remain a concern for the foreseeable future and will pose a challenge requiring the use of any tool that is likely to be effective in meeting the threat. Most of the local societies in which Al-Qaida has operated in the Middle East and Africa after September 11, 2001, have a predominantly tribal character or at least have a strong tribal component (Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Mali, and Sinai). Developing effective tools to counter Al-Qaida's continuing presence in that social environment, therefore, is a priority and requires understanding Al-Qaida's critical vulnerabilities when it operates in those societies and developing the means to counter Al-Qaida's efforts. This monograph addresses the role of tribal militias in the context of the fight against Al-Qaida. The intent is to enrich policy analysis and clarify options for future operations by focusing on past experience in order to identify the positive and negative aspects related to the use of such militias. The focus in this monograph is on Iraq and Yemen. However, many of the lessons learned may be applied more broadly. The thesis is that the capabilities which tribally-based militias provide may be one of the most efficient, cost-effective tools against Al-Qaida. In some cases, such militias can act as a force multiplier for U.S. Landpower forces, whether deployed on the ground in significant numbers, or, in other cases, if such militias can reduce the need for a U.S. commitment on the ground in environments that might present unfavorable conditions for a significant U.S. Landpower footprint. At the same time, given the complexity of the local political environment, tribal militias are no panacea, but can be a two-edged sword. Like any weapon, the use of tribal militias has to be understood and wielded with caution and skill in order to avoid unintended consequences. This discussion includes two models for the tribal militias based on the nature of their patron. In Model 1, the patron of a militia is an outside entity; in Model 2, the national government is the patron (although an outside entity may provide ancillary support). The first case study deals with a Model 1 situation, where a foreign patron - the United States - acted in that role in Iraq beginning in late-2006 and lasting through the hand-over to Iraqi authorities during the period from December 2008 to April 2009. The second case study deals with two ongoing Model 2 situations, again with Iraq, but taking place after the national government's assumption of responsibility for the tribal militia in 2009. This case study is especially useful for comparative purposes with the first case study. The third case study deals with Yemen, where the local government has acted as the militia patron since 2012. Details: Carlisle Barracks, PA: United States Army War College Press, 2015. 116p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 19, 2015 at: http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB1230.pdf Year: 2015 Country: International URL: http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB1230.pdf Shelf Number: 134967 Keywords: Counter-terrorismMilitia GroupsTerrorismTerrorists |
Author: Cliffe, Lionel Title: Armed violence and poverty in Somalia: a case study for the Armed Violence and Poverty Initiative Summary: Somalia represents an extreme case. It has experienced a long period of insecurity and instability; its people have been subject to a wide range of armed violence. Following the overthrow of the military regime in 1991, it has experienced the longest period of statelessness of any country in modern history. A period of intense armed conflict for power between factions based around the clans that make up Somali society eventually gave way to an unresolved stalemate in the capital and the south-central areas. Fighting between smaller militia groups who preyed on the population has continued in most of these areas until the present. In the northeast and northwest a degree of security was slowly negotiated and these areas have enjoyed relative stability and the state-type administrations of Puntland and Somaliland, respectively, which offer examples of control of small arms and light weapons (SALW) and armed violence. The case thus allows for analysis of several stages and types of armed violence and of the context of statelessness, but also comparison of the different processes at work in areas of much greater or lesser armed violence and impoverishment. The Republic of Somalia that came into being in 1960 has been subject to intense armed violence for most of its existence (and before). It has experienced military coup, inter-state war, insurgencies, civil war and ‘institutionalised disorder’ and insecurity. Likewise, SALW, as well as heavy weapons, have been widely spread since colonial times and through these stages of violent conflict, supplied by cold war powers, neighbouring governments and an active illegal market. The contending parties in the period of crisis since any semblance of a state with a monopoly of means of violence disappeared in 1991 have included: • Factional militias, mainly clan-based • Business militias, forced into self-protection • Private security guards • Freelance armed groups (mooryan) The problem of SALW is often seen by those bidding for political power in a new Somalia and by international actors as their spread to ‘civilians’. In reality it is their possession by these armed groups that represents a threat now and to a future peace. Without alternative livelihoods there is no solution. However, the juxtaposition of critically insecure with stable regions, which were also awash with SALW, demonstrates that their availability alone is not a single explanatory ‘cause’ of impoverishment. Details: Bradford, UK: Centre of International Cooperation and Security, Department of Peace Studies, 2005. 31p. Source: Internet Resource:Accessed February 13, 2017 at: https://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10454/1002/AVPI_Somalia.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Year: 2005 Country: Somalia URL: https://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10454/1002/AVPI_Somalia.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Shelf Number: 145769 Keywords: Armed ViolenceIllegal WeaponsMilitia GroupsPovertySocioeconomic Conditions and Crime |