ABSTRACT
In this chapter it will be demonstrated that the main actors involved in the warfare in Liberia and Somalia were indeed political actors.1 Furthermore, these political actors controlled armed force and had a certain number of followers. By applying the concepts of power, legitimacy, authority and rule, it will be demonstrated that the concept of trinitarian war is still valid and useful in order to understand the essence and continuation of the war. First, the political nature of the actor will be described by applying the concepts of power, legitimacy, authority and rule. Power has been made operational by describing it as the ability to influence the rational choice of others. Authority is the possession of legitimate power. Rule is the persistent control of this authority; it may take the form of the exercise of democratic rule by the people or autocratic rule with a large role for an individual leader. Second, the trinity of political leadership, army and people will be discussed. The actor will be shown to possess a military force and a group of supporters, i.e. consist of the Clausewitzean trinity.
