Big Bombs and Militant Networks

We are currently working to evaluate the role of the Syrian state’s use of weapons of mass distribution (as well as foreign airstrikes) on the patterns of alliance formation and infighting among militant groups in the Syrian Civil War. We will also evaluate how and whether the use of more extreme violence by one militant group affects the use of violence by other militant groups in the network.

This project is funded by United States Air Force  Academy Young Investigator Award #FA7000-18-0017 — "Understanding the Impacts of WMD/WME Attacks on Patterns of Militant Group Tactical Cooperation, Alliance Formation, Infighting, Outbidding, and Extremism" (Emily K. Gade, Principal Investigator, 2018-2020). 

This project builds directly upon work completed with Michael Gabbay and Mohammed Hafez.

Relevant publications:

• Fratricide in rebel movements: A network analysis of Syrian militant infighting (Emily Gade, Mohammed Hafez, Michael Gabbay, Journal of Peace Research, 2019, 56(3): 321–335). This article was recently awarded the “Article of the Year” award by the Journal of Peace Research.

• Networks of Cooperation: Rebel Alliances in Fragmented Civil Wars. (Emily Gade, Michael Gabby, Mohammed Hafez and Zane Kelly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2019, 63(9)).