Delegation, Sponsorship and Autonomy: Understanding State-Armed Group Relations

• In Event: State-Armed Group Relations: Cooperation, Conflict, and Cooptation

Abstract

What types of relationships do armed groups have with states? How do different levels of ties and power relations affect both armed group and government behavior? This paper develops a spectrum across which state-armed group relationships can move, focusing on three key types of relationships—delegation, sponsorship, and autonomy. A state-armed group relationship may be classified depending on the degree to which the armed group receives material or security support from a state and pursues the strategic aims of the state, and the balance of power between the armed group and the state. Examining cases ranging from Cold War-era rebels to the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, al-Qaeda, and death squads in Central America, I explore the legal and policy implications of these different levels of state-armed group connection and discuss how my framework enhances our ability to analyze the behavior of both armed groups and states.

Author

• Kai Massey Thaler, University of California, Santa Barbara