Understanding Civil Wars

'Edward Newman has provided civil war scholars and educators with a unique and important book. In addition to analyzing the societal and political determinants of civil war, the volume provides unique insights into its consequences, management, and epistemological debates. The case studies provide a broad geographic, type, and temporal range, including the often-ignored 19th-century conflicts and wars with statebuilding implications. I highly recommend this timely contribution to an extremely important subject matter.'-- Karl DeRouen, Jr, University of Alabama, USA 'In an incisive and provocative new study, Edward Newman makes a compelling case for considering state-building as one of the key political drivers of civil war. Wide-ranging, knowledgeable and erudite, Understanding Civil Wars is an excellent addition to current scholarship on one of the world's most pressing issues. Written by a leading scholar in the field, this book is essential reading for the expert and lay reader alike.' -- Richard Jackson, University of Otago, New Zealand 'Edward Newman always produces imaginative and informed contributions to debates on contemporary security. This book is no exception, providing an insightful and timely exploration of key debates related to civil war in the modern world.' -- Caroline Kennedy, University of Hull, UK 'This book addresses the seemingly pervasive problem of civil war in a novel way. It argues that this phenomenon which today draws unprecedented attention by scholars and practitioners is not as recent or different as many would think. Furthermore, it has many of the same roots through history. This is documented in a fresh, empirical and critical analysis of a number of well-known civil wars. Thus, the work of Newman provides challenging insights, particularly on factors relating to the state, local power politics and the strategies of liberal peacebuilding.'--Peter Wallensteen, Uppsala University and the University of Notre Dame 'In this thought-provoking volume, Newman evaluates major strains in the often contradictory scholarship on civil wars.' -- Journal of Peace Research 'The book presents a useful examination of the modern state and the challenges posed, particularly in light of liberal state-building efforts so prevalent in the post-Cold War era... Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate, research, and professional collections' --M. Olson Lounsbery, East Carolina University, CHOICE

Edward Newman is Professor of International Security at the University of Leeds, UK. He is editor of the journal Civil Wars, and the author of many books and articles on armed conflict, security and international intervention.

1. Introduction 2. Scholarship on Civil War: Topics, Debates and Controversies 3. Framing Civil Wars 4. Case Study: Japan, 1877 5. American Civil War, 1861-65 6. Liberia, 1989-96 7. Bosnia, 1992-95 8. Sri Lanka, 1983-2009 9. Patterns of Civil War in Historical Perspective 10. Civil Wars in the 21st Century: New Wars, Declining Wars, Post-colonial Wars of Statebuilding 11. Conclusion: Containing, Ending and Resolving Civil War - Lessons from History