Fragmented Forces: Warlords and Militias in Fragile and Failing States

March 9, 2011

In Max Weber’s quintessential definition, the state is that institution that holds the monopoly on the legitimate use of force. Unfortunately, such a monopoly of force is absent in failed or failing states. Here warlords, militias, and other armed private networks contest the rule of central authority. The lack of a centralized government that can provide law and order inevitably imposes great costs on the domestic population as well as other states.

This workshop intends to highlight how contemporary failed or fragile states have tried to create a monopoly of force in the wake of internal and/or external conflicts. More specifically the workshop aims to examine how central actors have tried to forge a national security apparatus in divided societies.

The participants will highlight the diversity of strategies that central governments use or have used to try to redress the problem of fragmented armed forces. Such strategies might include a tacit agreement between the central government and local power brokers regarding their spheres of influence; training of a national army or police force; side payments to warlords and militias to induce them to lay down their arms; incorporation of such warlords into the national army, etc. The role of third parties will be of particular interest, as this is the key problem facing the allied coalition in Iraq and Afghanistan. The focus will be comparative in scope comparing failed or fragile states in Africa and the Caucasus with experiences in military and police training in Afghanistan and Iraq.

PARTICIPANTS

Ariel Ahram (University of Oklahoma)
Nora Bensahel (Center for a New American Security)
Steven Grenier (National Defense University)
Kim Marten (Barnard College, Columbia University)
Dipali Mukhopadhyay (Princeton University)
Sandrine Perrot (Sciences Po, France)
Ian Spears (University of Guelph)
Aidan Winn (RAND)

Northwestern participants will include, among others: Christopher Day, Miklos Gosztonyi, Romain Malejacq, Hendrik Spruyt, and Will Reno.

SCHEDULE

8:45-9:15: Introduction and welcome by Hendrik Spruyt
9:15-11:00: Weak states and armed groups in Africa
11:15-1:00: Security force (re)construction in Iraq and Afghanistan
2:15-4:00: Militias, warlords and fragmented forces in Afghanistan
4:00-4:30: Closing remarks by Hendrik Spruyt