This article challenges the well-established presentation within conflict studies of
paramilitary organizations as state-manipulated death squads or self-defence groups, and …

This book examines the connection between sociology and the challenges faced by the
modern military. Military sociology has received little attention in the broader academic …

Governments often supplement the regular military with paramilitaries and progovernment
militias (PGMs). However, it is unclear what determines states' selection of these auxiliary …

A wealth of research in comparative politics and international relations examines how the
military intervenes in politics via coups. We shift attention to broader forms of military …

How do autocracies structure their civil–military relations? We contend that personalist
dictators are more strongly associated with counterbalancing than other authoritarian regime …

Secret police are generally viewed as key institutions in autocrats' repression apparatus.
However, we lack clear empirical evidence on the link between secret police and …

Authoritarian regimes frequently employ fragmentation to safeguard themselves against
coups and reduce the power of the military apparatus. This article investigates the impact of …

In recent years, researchers have shifted their focus to studying the effects of peacekeeping
in a geographically disaggregated manner. One of the factors that is yet to be fully examined …

Based on multi-country fieldwork with Indigenous communities, military records, and
museums, this chapter offers an interdisciplinary analysis–decolonial criminology, critical …

As this book goes to press, the world is witnessing one of the deadliest civil wars in recent
decades. Now in its eighth year, the war in Syria has killed more than half a million people …