Civilian protests can push conflicts toward peace — but not always. This study asks how different types of wartime civilian protest shape violence and the prospects for conflict resolution, and develops a framework to explain why some protests escalate rather than de-escalate violence.
This study asks why some rebel winners succeed in creating obedient, state-like militaries after civil war while others experience postwar military defections. Using a new list of winning rebel groups since 1946 and two case studies (Zimbabwe and Côte d’Ivoire), the author argues that intense security threats during the civil war make field commanders more likely to remain obedient by promoting inclusive leadership and by constraining commanders’ capacity to build local power bases during the war-to-peace transition.