Guide to Intra-state Wars

Sourcing data and analyses from the rigorous Correlates of War Project, "Guide to Intrastate Wars: A Handbook on Civil Wars" describes how civil war is defined and categorized and presents data and descriptions for nearly 300 civil wars waged from 1816 to the present. Analyzing trends over time and regions, this work is the definitive source for understanding the phenomenon of civil war. "Guide to Intrastate Wars" brings together an explanation of the theoretical premises driving the Correlates of War Project, along with revisions to categories of, and actors in, civil wars that have been made over the years, and data from the Nations, States and Entities civil war dataset. The book is divided into four sections: The first section describes the civil war criteria in the Correlates of War Project and discusses the theoretical bases of the scientific study of war. It addresses the characteristics that define civil war. The second section presents data from the Nations, States, and Entities dataset and discusses the variety of types of actors in international relations. The third section defines and describes the variables used in measuring the attributes of the civil war participants including dates of participation, theater forces, and fatalities. The fourth section presents detailed descriptions of each civil war, providing information on the participants in the conflicts, the progression of each war, the war outcomes, and linkages to other wars. Each case narrative highlights the experience of the non-governmental actors. The book concludes with an analysis of what the cases have taught us about civil war: What are the trends in civil war over time? How do they progress? What are the implications of the growing number of internationalized civil wars? It answers these questions definitively. "Guide to Intrastate Wars" is a resource that is accessible to both students and scholars, and it fills a gap in collections serving researchers in diplomatic and military history, international relations, and global issues.