Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world

Past Event
Seminar

The Political Economy of Quagmires

Open to the Public

Some civil wars are marked by a surprising confluence of decisions on the part of the participants: the belligerents continue to fight but at low levels of intensity, while foreign states continue to support them in this dead-end endeavor.  What distinguishes these quagmires from other civil wars?

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Co-sponsored by the Middle East Initiative

Date: Time: - Location: Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369
Marines of Company C, BLT 1/8, 24th Marine Amphibious Unit, conduct a foot patrol along the railroad tracks southeast of the company positions in Lebanon in late August 1983.

About

Some civil wars are marked by a surprising confluence of decisions on the part of the participants: the belligerents continue to fight but at low levels of intensity, while foreign states continue to support them in this dead-end endeavor.  What distinguishes these quagmires from other civil wars?

This seminar will study the channels through which the simultaneous interplay of three sets of interactions — between the warring parties, between each warring party and foreign backers, and the international rivalry between these backers — structures decision-making and thereby the likelihood of a quagmire. Episodes from the Lebanese civil war, 1975–1990, illustrate the theoretical mechanisms in action.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Co-sponsored by the Middle East Initiative