Warlords, Terrorists, and Militias: Theorizing on Violent Non-State Actors
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this graduate seminar on the political science literature covering warlords, terrorists, and militias. The syllabus examines why non-state actors turn to violence, the tactics and organizational strategies they use to mobilize support and coerce opponents, and the counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism responses governments mount against them. Sessions address definitional and methodological debates in the conflict studies literature, including how to operationalize key variables for empirical research. Case material draws on contemporary insurgencies and terrorist campaigns in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, the West Bank and Gaza, and Colombia to ground the theoretical readings. Materials include the full reading list, syllabus, and assignment structure as published by MIT, free to access under an open license, with no certificate offered.