This report is the product of years of applied analysis of the nature of 21st century conflict, literature study, political economy country analysis, a series of workshops in 2017–2018 and case studies of a number of quasi-governmental and hybrid coercive organisations by Clingendael researchers. In other words, the report has many contributors and emerges out of a longer period of reflection and experience.
The report owes a great deal of gratitude to two external peer reviewers, namely Professor Steven Heydemann (Smith College) and Benedetta Berti (international policy and security expert). Their comments have been invaluable. Thank you.
It has also benefited significantly from review within Clingendael’s Conflict Research Unit by Samar Batrawi and Floor El Kamouni-Janssen. Finally, without the unwavering support of the Dutch Foreign Ministry – Marieke Wierda, Macha Farrant and Pema Doornenbal (DSH) in particular – it would not have been possible to bring this work to publication. We have very much appreciated your support and advice.
For all immediate intents and purposes, the report provides the conceptual anchor for Clingendael’s Levant research programme, which focuses on the role of hybrid coercive organisations in contestations of political order in the Levant: www.clingendael.org/research-program/levant.
More broadly, the report contributes to our understanding of the emergence, development and persistence of coercive organisations – those of a hybrid nature in particular – as an element of contemporary intrastate conflict. Situated at the intersection of conflict studies and state formation theory, the report offers analysis of a key linkage between these processes in the context of the Levant.
The content of the report naturally remains the responsibility of its authors. We look forward to a productive debate on its strengths and weaknesses.