Journal Article - International Security

Dealers and Brokers in Civil Wars: Why States Delegate Rebel Support to Conduit Countries

    Authors:
  • Niklas Karlén
  • Vladimir Rauta
| Spring 2023

State support to non-state armed groups outside the state’s own territory is commonly seen as a direct relationship between a state sponsor and a rebel group. But powerful states can use a third state—a dealer or broker—as a conduit for military and other rebel support. Powerful states face a double principal-agent problem when providing material support to rebels if the intermediary has its own agenda. States that fail to identify an alignment of interests with the intermediary dealers and brokers face strategic failure.

Downloads

For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation:

Niklas Karlén and Vladimir Rauta, "Dealers and Brokers in Civil Wars: Why States Delegate Rebel Support to Conduit Countries," International Security 47, no. 4 (Spring 2023): 107–146, https://doi.org/10.1162/isec_a_00461.

The Authors

Niklas Karlén

Vladimir Rauta

Recommended
In the Spotlight
RSS
More open-sourced technology means that those who wish to use it for nefarious purposes have the same access to the technology as anyone else, write Bruce Schneier and James Waldo.
As more of society’s critical functions go digital, government must protect individuals' ability to perceive, judge, and trust or distrust things with which they interact, argues Steve Johnson.
This paper by Svenja Kirsch and Bethan Saunders proposes policy recommendations to enhance transatlantic coordination and cooperation against cyber-related threats by Russia and China.
Most Viewed

Tags