This volume provides researchers and students with a discussion of a broad range of methods and their practical application to the study of non-state actors in international security. All researchers face the same challenge, not only must they identify a suitable method for analysing their research question, they must also apply it. This volume prepares students and scholars for the key challenges they confront when using social-science methods in their own research. To bridge the gap between knowing methods and actually employing them, the book not only introduces a broad range of interpretive and explanatory methods, it also discusses their practical application. Contributors reflect on how they have used methods, or combinations of methods, such as narrative analysis, interviews, qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), case studies, experiments or participant observation in their own research on non-state actors in international security. Moreover, experts on the relevant methods discuss these applications as well as the merits and limitations of the various methods in use. Research on non-state actors in international security provides ample challenges and opportunities to probe different methodological approaches. It is thus particularly instructive for students and scholars seeking insights on how to best use particular methods for their research projects in International Relations (IR), security studies and neighbouring disciplines. It also offers an innovative laboratory for developing new research techniques and engaging in unconventional combinations of methods. This book will be of much interest to students of non-state security actors such as private military and security companies, research methods, security studies and International Relations in general. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.routledge.com/Researching-Non-state-Actors-in-International-Security-Theory-and-Practice/Kruck-Schneiker/p/book/9780367141561, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Non-state threats and actors have become key topics in contemporary international security as since the end of the Cold War the notion that state is the primary unit of interest in international security has increasingly been challenged. Statistics show that today many more people are killed by ethnic conflicts, HIV/AIDS or the proliferation of small arms than by international war. Moreover, non-state actors, such as non-governmental organizations, private military companies and international regimes, are progressively complementing or even replacing states in the provision of security. Suggesting that such developments can be understood as part of a shift from government to governance in international security, this book examines both how private actors have become one of the main sources of insecurity in the contemporary world and how non-state actors play a growing role in combating these threats.

How do non-state actors matter in international relations? This volume recognizes three types of non-state actor: non-governmental organizations (NGOs), intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and transnational corporations. It illustrates how they play roles alongside nation-states and are interrelated in matters of international regulation and coordination. After an introductory part on current qualitative and quantitative sources, this comprehensive collection of state-of-the-art essays is comprised of four main thematic parts: Part II examines actors other than governments, such as transnational religious actors, business representatives and experts, and also parliamentarians and agencies set up by IGOs. Part III studies the perceptions and understandings in political philosophy, international law and international relations theory. It questions concepts used (civil society, NGO, governance) and covers the limitations to be kept in mind. Part IV analyses the nature and impact of non-state actors. Chapters discuss processes within international bureaucracies (diplomacy, dynamism, bureaucratic power, contribution to democracy) and the quintessence of deliberation and decision making within NGOs and IGOs and of implementation, accountability and dispute settlement. Part V studies specific worlds of non-state actors: humanitarian aid, human rights, security, the North-South divide, health, trade and environment. Accessible and articulately written, The Ashgate Research Companion to Non-State Actors is aimed at a wide readership of scholars and practitioners in international relations.

An original argument about the causes and consequences of political violence and the range of strategies employed.

The involvement of non-state actors in world politics can hardly be characterised as novel, but intensifying economic and social exchange and the emergence of new modes of international governance have given them much greater visibility and, many would argue, a more central role. Non-state Actors in World Politics offers analyses of a diverse range of economic, social, legal (and illegal), old and new actors, such as the Catholic Church, trade unions, diasporas, religious movements, transnational corporations and organised crime.

This volume provides researchers and students with a discussion of a broad range of methods and their practical application to the study of non-state actors in international security. All researchers face the same challenge, not only must they identify a suitable method for analysing their research question, they must also apply it. This volume prepares students and scholars for the key challenges they confront when using social-science methods in their own research. To bridge the gap between knowing methods and actually employing them, the book not only introduces a broad range of interpretive and explanatory methods, it also discusses their practical application. Contributors reflect on how they have used methods, or combinations of methods, such as narrative analysis, interviews, qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), case studies, experiments or participant observation in their own research on non-state actors in international security. Moreover, experts on the relevant methods discuss these applications as well as the merits and limitations of the various methods in use. Research on non-state actors in international security provides ample challenges and opportunities to probe different methodological approaches. It is thus particularly instructive for students and scholars seeking insights on how to best use particular methods for their research projects in International Relations (IR), security studies and neighbouring disciplines. It also offers an innovative laboratory for developing new research techniques and engaging in unconventional combinations of methods. This book will be of much interest to students of non-state security actors such as private military and security companies, research methods, security studies and International Relations in general. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.routledge.com/Researching-Non-state-Actors-in-International-Security-Theory-and-Practice/Kruck-Schneiker/p/book/9780367141561, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This book explores the rise and impact of violent non-state actors in contemporary Africa and the implications for the sovereignty and security of African states. Each chapter tackles a unique angle on violent organizations on the continent with the view of highlighting the conditions that lead to the rise and radicalization of these groups. The chapters further examine the ways in which governments have responded to the challenge and the national, regional and international strategies that they have adopted as a result. Chapter contributors to this volume examine the emergence of Islamist terrorists in Nigeria, Mali and Libya; rebels in DR Congo, Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Rwanda; and warlords and pirates in Somalia, Uganda and Sierra Leone.