Network Paper 51: Humanitarian Engagement with Non-state Armed Actors

Author(s)

Glaser, Max.

Publication language

English

Pages

32pp

Date published

01 Jun 2005

Type

Research, reports and studies

Keywords

Conflict, violence & peace, Access and Negotiation, Working in conflict setting

Organisations

Over the last several decades, nonstate

armed groups have become a

common feature of civil conflicts and

internal wars. These Armed Non-

State Actors (ANSAs) go by many

names, including liberation movements,

rebel groups, paramilitaries,

insurgents and warlords, mercenaries

and private military and security

companies. The category could now

also include transnational terrorist

organisations such as Al-Qaeda. The

proliferation of armed non-state

groups mirrors the proliferation of

internal conflicts across the globe.

International wars such as the USled

invasions of Afghanistan and

Iraq are now very much the

exception: virtually all of today’s

conflicts are internal to states, not

international.

ALNAP