ABSTRACT
How and why armed groups govern civilians owes much to the particularities of specific conflicts. Nevertheless, there has been a systemic change in the past 50 years. Global political changes have altered who supports armed groups from outside conflict zones, and for what purpose. This shift has had important effects on armed groups’ motivations and resources for civilian governance. Broad changes have also occurred in the character of the states in which armed groups fight, and this has had a corresponding impact on the kinds of social relationships and reactions that these groups encounter among civilians. In particular, many contemporary armed groups have formed in the wake of state failure and the collapse of authoritarian personalist governments. The fragmented social environments that this process creates play critical roles in shaping how, and with whom, armed groups negotiate in order to govern.
