Revolutionary Cities: Rebel Leaders’ Education, Social Networks, and Rebellion

• In Event: Leaders and Civil Conflict

Abstract

This paper examines the social underpinnings of violent conflict by focusing on the ways rebel leaders often capitalize on their personal connections to secure organizational advantages in the fight against an incumbent regime. Although a large literature examines the structural, political, and military determinants of conflict dynamics, few studies take into account its social logic at the leadership level. We argue that rebel leaders’ prior foreign experiences serve as opportunities to develop transnational social networks which they can later exploit in efforts to secure material support once rebellion is underway. In particular, we propose that would-be rebel leaders’ prior experiences studying abroad facilitate their search for foreign sponsorship during conflict. Certain cities that are host to prominent universities attract a multitude of individuals who later enter political careers, whether in government or in armed rebel organizations. Consequently, the social connections established during one’s time studying abroad in these cosmopolitan political hubs often serve as valuable contacts when rebel leaders later search for external support. We test these arguments using the newly constructed Resistance Organization Leaders (ROLE) Dataset, which contains a gamut of biographical information on nearly 500 rebel leaders active since 1980, and find a robust association between leaders with study abroad experiences and their ability to secure wartime external state sponsorship. The findings underscore the value of examining social relations in understanding conflicts dynamics, and of studying conflicts with individual rebel leaders as a unit of analysis.

Authors

• Reyko Huang, Texas A&M University

• Daniel Silverman, Carnegie Mellon University

• Benjamin Acosta, Data Half Life