POLI104 additional reading - Stocker 2024 - VNSAs

Appeal of Alternative Authority

  • Violent non-state actors need local population support to be effective.
  • Civilian views on competing authorities determine sympathy or tolerance.
  • State repression and inequitable service provision drive appeal of alternative governance models.

A Failing Approach

  • Domestic and international actors often ignore the importance of legitimacy among local populations.
  • Immediate security concerns often take precedence over addressing conditions that incentivize civilians to see violent actors as legitimate.
  • Examples include the situation in Mali and Burkina Faso with Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and in southeast Nigeria with the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).

Implications for Irregular Warfare

  • Ignoring local legitimacy issues puts the democratic international community at a disadvantage.
  • Russia, China, and other actors promote repressive authoritarianism.
  • The US often waffles between security assistance and process legitimacy, ignoring local issues.
  • This can lead to disengagement and the perception that the West is disinterested in solving conflicts.

Recommendations

  • Condition security assistance on limited and legitimate use of military force against violent non-state actors, avoiding disproportionate harm to civilians.
  • Support partners in ensuring legitimate political avenues for civilians to address grievances, including open political spaces and fair elections.
  • Target democracy and governance assistance toward the political inclusion of marginalized communities.
  • Conduct routine assessments of a country’s progress on metrics related to political and civic activities.

Conclusion

  • Understanding the role of sympathy and tolerance in enabling violent non-state actors is crucial.
  • Neglecting this strategic factor is counterproductive in an era of great power competition and irregular warfare.
  • Failures reinforce the idea among autocratic elites that force and repression are the only solutions, driving them closer to Russia and China.
  • Marginalized populations may lose faith in the democratic world's commitment to political inclusion.