Rebel Successor Governments, Risk Acceptance, and Diplomacy after Civil War

• In Event: Rebel Diplomacy, Governance, and Electoral Politics

Brief Overview

Negotiated settlements provide many of those that fight in civil wars a chance to be included in post-conflict politics. Of these parties and politicians that participate in post-conflict elections, most fail to gain executive power. However, some rebel parties become viable in post-conflict politics, offering a new platform and a new identity that challenges the traditional status quo. Simultaneously, candidates of these rebel parties may be prone to violent, coercive bargaining strategies used during the conflict that may not be well suited for post-conflict diplomacy. Building on a growing literature that examines the inclusion of former rebel parties in post-conflict politics, this project asks why some former rebel politicians are more prone to risk acceptant behavior than others, despite similar conflict legacies? Using a patron-client analysis, this piece argues that the political economy of domestic patronage and foreign sponsorship dramatically affects the likelihood of risk acceptant foreign policy behavior by rebel politicians in during their governing tenure.

Author

• Michael Christopher Marshall, Alma College