In the 2018 video game Far Cry 5, Joseph Seed, the fictional leader of a violent religious movement, has organized an armed group in the imaginary county of Hope, Montana, to prepare for the collapse of society and to pave the road toward salvation. As members of the movement violently compel residents of the county to join the group while murdering law enforcement officers sent to arrest Seed, other residents of the county form an armed resistance group to protect themselves. Players of the game assume the role of a sheriffâs deputy who is part of a larger task force aimed at putting down Seedâs group with the help of the newly formed armed resistance group.
Although Far Cry 5 encapsulates many aspects of militias and paramilitary violence, such as armed groups of civilians organizing to defend their communities, it overlooks key features of how many real-world militias across the globe can affect critical international peace and stability. Before Far Cry 5 went into development, a pro-Russian militia in a rogue act shot down a Malaysian Airlines jet from Holland over the skies of eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing 298 people aboard. The subsequent investigation determined that Russia, which had been supporting the militia as its proxy force to stoke instability in Ukraine, provided the armed group with the sophisticated surface-to-air missile used to destroy the aircraft.1 In response, the European Union, the United States, and several other nations implemented sanctions against the Russian government, increasing tensions between Russia and the West to their highest point since the Cold War.
Much like the pro-Russian militia in Ukraine, armed groups of civilians in many countries challenge issues of politics, society, and security across borders. Militias have long been parts of international relations and are especially relevant in todayâs global environment. By examining the variety of ways that militias affect international security, this book demonstrates the abiding relevance of these armed groups and highlights the challenges that paramilitary violence poses around the world.
Militias and International Security
Although often overlooked, militias are significant and prevalent actors in the contemporary international security environment. In fact, only a small fraction of the worldâs population live in states that have highly professional and well-functioning militaries or police forces; people across most of the globe live under the power and influence of militias and other violent non-state groups. One study counted over 200 active pro-government militias, which are only a subset of this type of violent non-state group, operating in 60 countries.2 Meanwhile, recent research indicates that the internet is enabling the increasing emergence of new pro-government and anti-government militias.3 The size of this type of armed group can range from a few dozen to tens of thousands while operating in areas close to its community or in distant regions in other countries.
The prevalence of militias across the globe is matched by their power to influence international security. Pro-government militias were present in 81 percent of civil wars between 1981 and 2007.4 This type of violent non-state group has been part of the strategic landscape in almost every conflict where multinational military forces have been deployed in the postâCold War era and have, at times, shaped their outcomes. Somali armed groups blunted US military might in the city of Mogadishu during the infamous 1993 Black Hawk Down incident, precipitating a US withdrawal from Somalia. In Iraq, numerous Shia militias imposed their will on the streets of Bagdad in the aftermath of the 2003 US invasion, complicating the ability of the United States to secure the country. Moreover, the deadliest conflicts of the twenty-first century thus far have featured militias as key actors.5 Militias have contributed to the protraction of civil wars, making them harder to bring to a conclusion and thus increasing human suffering.6 Paramilitary violence has also involved large-scale human rights abuses like ethnic cleansing and genocide.
Militias have proven useful to states in pursuing their foreign policy and military objectives in other countries. States have created or supported militias as their proxy forces in internal conflicts rather than introducing their own conventional military forces into another state. This has often led to rising tensions among the outside powers who support their respective militias and the potential for outside powers to be held responsible for their militiasâ rogue acts.
In many fragile states, militias are more militarily capable than the established armed forces. Where rebels and dissident movements have been able to challenge governmental authority, national leaders in these states have relied on paramilitary groups to prop up the state. The Syrian government empowered Shia militia groups to take on the fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and to carry out atrocities against regime enemies. In other cases where militias oppose the governments of fragile states, warlords, such as Joseph Kony in Uganda, are able to use paramilitary violence to hold large swaths of territory under their brutal personal rule.
Militias have also been significant players in the illicit trafficking of drugs, oil, timber, gems, and rare antiquities. As a means to pay for recruits and weapons, militias in diverse countries like Colombia, Nigeria, and Lebanon have relied on the sale of illicit commodities that cross a number of borders. These militias have colluded with transnational criminal organizations that corrupt governmental officials and victimize innocent people.
Paramilitary violence can also be transnational, complicating efforts to contend with militias. Individuals from different countries have joined various militias while a few militias have sent their members abroad to fight among the ranks of other armed groups or alongside the conventional armed forces of another nation.7 These foreign fighters have presented a complex set of dilemmas for nations, which differ over how to treat them if they are detained or if they return to their home countries.
Although mainly associated with internal conflicts, militias are nonetheless active in countries without active war zones. Mexicoâs policia popular are vigilante groups that seek to protect communities from drug cartels and gangs. In Kenya, political parties use militias to intimidate citizens of their electoral opponents. The activities of militias in Mexico and Kenya undermine democratic practices, creating regional concerns about instability spilling into neighboring states.
Despite the popular impression that militias operate only in developing countries, they are also active in developed countries. The Minutemen Militia in the United States organized to patrol the Southwest border to prevent illegal migrants and illicit drugs crossing from Mexico while the Ulster Defence Association in Northern Ireland is dedicated to keeping the territory under the control of the United Kingdom. Both of these militias have complicated their governmentsâ relations with key countries in their respective regions.
Examining the diversity of militias and their widespread presence around the world leaves little doubt about militiasâ contribution to a number of significant international security issues. Militias have added to state fragility, bee...