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ABSTRACT
This paper uses a case study of Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front to help explain when and where non-state armed groups (NSAGs) use violence, and what type of violence such groups use. The first part of the paper compares ‘ideological’ and ‘instrumental’ theories and finds strong support for ‘instrumental’ explanations, particularly contestation theory. The second part of the paper seeks to explain the patterns of contestation, which the existing scholarship treats as an independent variable, and finds that the patterns of contestation are explained by the interaction of the state and NSAG’s policy goals.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. Some have attributed the assault on Freetown primarily to the AFRC forces (cf. Keen Citation2005). However, according to Gberie (Citation2005) the leaders of the AFRC ‘seemed to have been held hostage to the whims and depredations of their junior rank and file soldiers, and more especially, of the RUF members who joined the ruling council’ (p.99), and the leader of the AFRC, Ernest Bai Koroma ‘made himself hostage to the demented tactics of the RUF’ (p.106) and by the time they were driven out of Freetown, Gberie concludes that the two forces were more or less united under the RUF control (p.122). This suggests that although the AFRC played a significant role in the attack, the strategic decision making was likely made by the RUF leadership.
2. Some have suggested that the extreme violence of the RUF in Freetown should be attributed to the city’s ‘urban-ness.’ However, were this the case, the same violence would have been evident in Makeni, another of Sierra Leone’s largest cities.
3. This is consistent with other instances of ‘rebel rule’ by other NSAG in areas they control (Mampilly Citation2011)
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Nicholas Dudek
Nicholas Dudek is a Security Studies MA candidate at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. His research interests include civil wars, rebel behavior, and counterinsurgency.