Insurgent Fragmentation in the Horn of Africa
Rebellion and its Discontents

This extended treatment of insurgent fragmentation provides an innovative new theory tested through analysis of the Horn of Africa's civil wars.

Michael Woldemariam (Author)

9781108423250, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 February 2018

330 pages, 16 b/w illus. 5 tables
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.9 cm, 0.65 kg

'Michael Woldemariam's book offers a new and important explanation of rebel cohesion and fragmentation. By focusing on the impact of battlefield dynamics on rebel unity, Woldemariam helps us understand why insurgent cohesion is so challenging and prone to breakdown. His careful, deeply researched comparative evidence from Ethiopia and Somalia valuably brings these fascinating cases into dialogue with the broader literature on political violence. This book deserves wide attention and engagement.' Paul Stanliland, University of Chicago

When insurgent organizations factionalize and fragment, it can profoundly shape a civil war: its intensity, outcome, and duration. In this extended treatment of this complex and important phenomenon, Michael Woldemariam examines why rebel organizations fragment through a unique historical analysis of the Horn of Africa's civil wars. Central to his view is that rebel factionalism is conditioned by battlefield developments. While fragmentation is caused by territorial gains and losses, counter-intuitively territorial stalemate tends to promote rebel cohesion and is a critical basis for cooperation in war. As a rare effort to examine these issues in the context of the Horn of Africa region, based upon extensive fieldwork, this book will interest both scholarly and non-scholarly audiences interested in insurgent groups and conflict dynamics.

Part I. Theory and Concepts: 1. Organized rebellion and its intractable problem
2. A theory of rebel fragmentation
Part II. Rebellion in Ethiopia and Eritrea: 3. The Eritrean Liberation Front: 'Jebha' in action, 1960–1982
4. The Eritrean People's Liberation Front: 'Shaebia' in action, 1972–1991
5. The second wave of rebellion: Tigrayans, Oromos, Afars, and Somalis, 1975–2008
Part III. Rebel Fragmentation in the Broader Horn: 6. The long war in Somalia: the Somali National Movement, Islamic Courts Union, and Harakat al-Shabaab al Mujahidin, 1981–2013
7. Concluding thoughts.

Subject Areas: International organisations & institutions [LBBU], International relations [JPS], African history [HBJH]