The end of the Cold War has changed the dominant form of war from “old wars” (interstate wars) to “new wars” (intrastate wars) due to the dissolution of ideological bipolarity. Over the years, armed non-state actors (ANSA), the one side of the intrastate wars, have become more complex in nature, privatizing, criminalizing, economizing, and globalizing. Although they have different political and strategic objectives and interests, the rise of ANSA has resulted largely from the state’s lack of political legitimacy. Many ANSA have control over the territory and/or the people and play a de facto state role in protecting the people and delivering the services, as seen in (i) the separatists in Northern Ireland, the Philippines, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, former-Yugoslavia, former-Soviet Union, Kurdish, Palestina, Uighur, and Ache; (ii) Salafi-Jihadists (Al-Qaeda, Islamic State, and the affiliated groups); and (iii) Iran-backed groups (Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis). However, the structural mechanism for forming and functioning them is not clear. Thus, more comprehensive views regarding ANSA, which challenge the sovereignty-state system, are needed.
The primary goal of this particular issue is to deepen our understanding of the dynamics of ANSA and its relations with the states from a global perspective. While the collection addresses how and under what conditions ANSA gain or lose their legitimacy, considering both domestic and international factors and actors, it attempts to go beyond a binary or dichotomous distinction between the ANSA and the state, recognizing that the boundaries are often overlapped in conflict-affected countries. This Research Topic welcomes theoretical elaborations, conceptual approaches, and specific or comparative case studies that include the formation process of ANSAs, sources of political legitimacy, objectives and strategies, areas of controls, conditions that enable them to establish and function, and roles and functions.
We are particularly interested in original research papers, reviews and policy reports that explore the following topics:
- How do we understand the nature of present wars with diverse ANSA in international politics (how can we describe the nature of present war after “new wars” in the post-Cold War era?)
- When, why, and how were specific ANSA formed?
- What are ANSA's sources of political legitimacy?
- What are the international and domestic conditions where ANSA gains or loses political legitimacy?
- What are the critical factors to successful (non) territorial autonomy by ANSA?
- How is the political legitimacy of ANSA correlated to the one of the states?
- How is ANSA collaborating or conflicting with the states?
- How have the rise of ANSA and, the decline of, states been reshaping an international (dis)order?
- How can the international community be engaged in ANSA besides the war on terrorism approach?
Keywords:
Armed Non-State Actors, Political Legitimacy, Territorial Autonomy, international order, old wars and new wars, extreme violence, armed conflicts.
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
The end of the Cold War has changed the dominant form of war from “old wars” (interstate wars) to “new wars” (intrastate wars) due to the dissolution of ideological bipolarity. Over the years, armed non-state actors (ANSA), the one side of the intrastate wars, have become more complex in nature, privatizing, criminalizing, economizing, and globalizing. Although they have different political and strategic objectives and interests, the rise of ANSA has resulted largely from the state’s lack of political legitimacy. Many ANSA have control over the territory and/or the people and play a de facto state role in protecting the people and delivering the services, as seen in (i) the separatists in Northern Ireland, the Philippines, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, former-Yugoslavia, former-Soviet Union, Kurdish, Palestina, Uighur, and Ache; (ii) Salafi-Jihadists (Al-Qaeda, Islamic State, and the affiliated groups); and (iii) Iran-backed groups (Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis). However, the structural mechanism for forming and functioning them is not clear. Thus, more comprehensive views regarding ANSA, which challenge the sovereignty-state system, are needed.
The primary goal of this particular issue is to deepen our understanding of the dynamics of ANSA and its relations with the states from a global perspective. While the collection addresses how and under what conditions ANSA gain or lose their legitimacy, considering both domestic and international factors and actors, it attempts to go beyond a binary or dichotomous distinction between the ANSA and the state, recognizing that the boundaries are often overlapped in conflict-affected countries. This Research Topic welcomes theoretical elaborations, conceptual approaches, and specific or comparative case studies that include the formation process of ANSAs, sources of political legitimacy, objectives and strategies, areas of controls, conditions that enable them to establish and function, and roles and functions.
We are particularly interested in original research papers, reviews and policy reports that explore the following topics:
- How do we understand the nature of present wars with diverse ANSA in international politics (how can we describe the nature of present war after “new wars” in the post-Cold War era?)
- When, why, and how were specific ANSA formed?
- What are ANSA's sources of political legitimacy?
- What are the international and domestic conditions where ANSA gains or loses political legitimacy?
- What are the critical factors to successful (non) territorial autonomy by ANSA?
- How is the political legitimacy of ANSA correlated to the one of the states?
- How is ANSA collaborating or conflicting with the states?
- How have the rise of ANSA and, the decline of, states been reshaping an international (dis)order?
- How can the international community be engaged in ANSA besides the war on terrorism approach?
Keywords:
Armed Non-State Actors, Political Legitimacy, Territorial Autonomy, international order, old wars and new wars, extreme violence, armed conflicts.
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.