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Large-N Analysis in the Study of Conflict

Year 2019, Volume: 8 Issue: 2, 135 - 156, 01.07.2019
https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.476414

Abstract

In this paper, I
examine the generation and use of large-N datasets and issues related to operationalization
and measurement in the study of inter-state and intra-state conflict.
Specifically, I critically evaluate the work on transnational dimensions of
internal conflict. I also talk about my own journey related to my research on
interactions between states and nonstate armed groups. I address the gaps in
existing research, the use of proxies in large-N data analysis, and talk in
detail about observational data collection and coding. I argue that future
research should bridge the gap between studies of conflict across the fields of
Comparative Politics and International Relations. I make suggestions laying the
standards of academic scholarship in collecting data and increasing
transparency in research.  

References

  • Barnett, R. “Guerillas Convene 'Peace Conference'.” United Press International. Bogota, Colombia, 1985. Aydin, A., and P. M. Regan. “Networks of Third–party Interveners and Civil War Duration.” European Journal of International Relations 18, no. 3 (2011): 573–97. Bakke, K. M. Copying and learning from outsiders? Assessing diffusion from transnational insurgents in the Chechen wars. In Transnational Dynamics of Civil War, edited by J. Y. Checkel, 31–62. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Balch–Lindsay, D., and A. J. Enterline. “Killing Time: The World Politics of Civil War Duration, 1820–1992.” International Studies Quarterly 44, no. 4 (2000): 615–42. Barnett, R. J. Intervention and Revolution: America’s Confrontation with Insurgent Movements Around the World. Ontario: New American Library, 1968. Beck, N., J. N. Katz, and R. Tucker. “Taking Time Seriously.” American Journal of Political Science 42, no. 4 (1998): 1260–88. Bouthoul, G. War. New York: Walker,1963. Bouthoul, G., R. Carrère, and G. Köhler. “A List of the 366 Major Armed Conflicts of the Period 1740–1974.” Peace Research 10, no. 3 (1978): 83–108. Boyd, G. M. “Reagan Accuses Soviet of Aiding Latin Terrorists.” The New York Times, January 3, 1986. Burnham, P., K. G. Lutz, and W. Grant. Research Methods in Political Science. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Carment, D., P. James, and Z. Taydas. “The Internationalization of Ethnic Conflict: State, Society, and Synthesis.” International Studies Review 11, no. 1 (2009): 63–86. Carter, D. B., and C. S. Signorino. “Back to the Future: Modeling Time Dependence in Binary Data.” Political Analysis 18, no. 3 (2010): 271–92. Cederman, L. E., L. Girardin, and K. S. Gleditsch. “Ethnonationalist Triads: Assessing the Influence of Kin Groups on Civil Wars.” World Politics 61, no. 3 (2009): 403–37. Cederman, L. E., K. S. Gleditsch, I. Salehyan, and J. Wucherpfennig (2013). “Transborder Ethnic Kin and Civil War.” International Organization 67, no. 2: 389–410. Collier, P., and A. Hoeffler. Greed and Grievance in Civil War. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2000. ———. “Greed and Grievance in Civil War.” Oxford Economic Papers 56, no. 4 (2004): 563–95. Cunningham, D. “Blocking Resolution: How External States can Prolong Civil War.” Journal of Peace Research 47, no. 2 (2010): 115–27. ———. “Veto Players and Civil War Duration.” American Journal of Political Science 50, no. 4 (2006): 875–92. Cunningham, D. E., K. S. Gleditsch, and I. Salehyan. “It Takes Two: A Dyadic Analysis of Civil War Duration and Outcome.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 53, no. 4 (2009): 570–97. Cunningham, D. E., K. S. Gleditsch, and I. Salehyan. Non–State Actor Data – Version 3.3., 2009. Davis, D. R., and W. H. Moore. “Ethnicity Matters: Transnational Ethnic Alliances and Foreign Policy Behavior.” International Studies Quarterly 41, no. 1 (1997): 171–84. Deutsch, K. W. External Involvement in Internal War. In Internal War: Problems and Approaches, edited by H. Eckstein, 100–10. New York: Free Press, 1964. Dixon, J. S., and M. R. Sarkees. A Guide to Intra–state Wars: An Examination of Civil, Regional, and Intercommunal Wars, 1816–2014. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2016. Easton, D. The Political System. An Inquiry into the State of Political Science. New York: Knopf, 1953. Fearon, J. D. “Civil War and the Current International System.” Daedalus 146, no. 4 (2017): 18–32. Fearon, J. D., and D. D. Laitin. “Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War.” American Political Science Review 97, no. 1: 75–90. Gasiorowski, M. J. Regime Legitimacy and National Security: The Case of Pahlavi Iran. In National Security in the Third World: The Management of Internal and External Threats, edited by E. E. Azar and C.-in Moon, 227–50. Cambridge, University of Maryland, 1988. Gleditsch, K. S. “Transnational Dimensions of Civil War.” Journal of Peace Research 44, no. 3 (2007): 293–309. Gleditsch, N. P., P. Wallensteen, M. Eriksson, M. Sollenberg, and H. Strand. “Armed Conflict 1946–2001: A New Dataset.” Journal of Peace Research 39, no. 5 (2002): 625–37. Gurr, T. R. Why Men Rebel. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1968. Högbladh, S., T. Pettersson, and L. Themné. “External Support in Armed Conflict 1975–2009.” Paper presented at the 52nd Annual International Studies Association Convention, Montreal, Canada, 2011. Kalyvas, S. N., and L. Balcells. “International System and Technologies of Rebellion: How the End of Cold War Shaped Internal Conflict.” American Political Science Review 104, no. 3 (2010): 415–29. Lemke, D., and W. Reed. “The Relevance of Politically Relevant Dyads.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 45, no. 1 (2001): 126–44. Lyall, J., and L. C. I. Wilson. “Rage Against the Machines: Explaining Outcomes in Counterinsurgency Wars.” International Organization 63, no. 1 (2009): 67–106. Mahavera, S. “Border Alert for Arms Mastermind.” New Straits Times. August, 30, 2003. Maoz, Z., and B. D. Mor. “Enduring Rivalries: The Early Years.” International Political Science Review 17, no. 2 (1996): 141–60. Maoz, Z., and B. Russett. “Normative and Structural Causes of Democratic Peace, 1946–1986.” American Political Science Review 87, no. 3 (1993): 624–38. Maoz, Z., and B. San–Akca. “Rivalry and State Support for Non–state Armed Groups (NAGs).” International Studies Quarterly 56, no. 4 (2012): 720–34. Marshall, M. G., and K. Jaggers. “Polity IV Project:Political Regime Characteristics and Transitions, 1800–2007.” Center for Systemic Peace, Vienna, VA, 2009. Merriam, C. E., and H. F. Gosnell. Non–Voting, Causes and Methods of Control. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1924. Owen, J. M. I. The Clash of Ideas in World Politics: Transnational Networks, States, and Regime Change, 1510–2010. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010. Piazza, J. A. “Is Islamist Terrorism More Dangerous?: An Empirical Study of Group Ideology, Organization, and Goal Structure.” Terrorism and Political Violence 21, no. 1 (2009): 62–88. Popper, K. The Logic of Scientific Discovery. Routledge Classics, 2002[1959]. Regan, P. M. “Conditions of Successful Third–Party Intervention in Intrastate Conflicts.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 40, no. 2 (1996): 336–59. ———. “Third-Party Interventions and the Duration of Intrastate Conflicts.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 46, no. 1 (2002): 55–73. Richardson, L. F. Statistics of Deadly Quarrels Boxwood Press, 1960. Saideman, S. M. “Discrimination in International Relations: Analyzing External Support for Ethnic Groups.” Journal of Peace Research 39, no. 1 (2002): 27–50. ———. “Explaining the International Relations of Secessionist Conflicts: Vulnerability vs. Ethnic Ties.” International Organization 51, no. 4 (1997): 721–53. Saideman, S. M. The Ties That Divide: Ethnic Politics, Foreign Policy, and International Conflict. New York: Colombia University Press, 2001. San-Akca, B. “Dangerous Companions: Cooperation between States and Nonstate Armed Groups.” NAGs Dataset v.04/2015. Koç University, Istanbul, April 2015. nonstatearmedgroups.ku.edu.tr. ———. “Democracy and Vulnerability: An Exploitation Theory of Democracies by Terrorists.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 58, no. 7 (2014): 1285–1310. ———. States in Disguise: Causes of State Support for Rebel Groups. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016. ———. “Supporting Non–State Armed Groups: A Resort to Illegality?” Journal of Strategic Studies 32, no. 4 (2009): 589–613. Sarkees, M. R., and F. Wayman. Resort to War: 1816–2007. Washington DC: CQ Press, 2010. Sawyer, K., K. G. Cunningham, and R. Reed. “ The Role of External Support in Civil War Termination.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 59 (2015):1–29. Singer, J. D., and M. H. Small. “Correlates of War Project: International and Civil War Data, 1816–1992.” ICPSR Study # 9905. Ann Arbor, MI: ICPSR, 1994. Wood, R. M. “From Loss to Looting? Battlefield Costs and Rebel Incentives for Violence.” International Organization 68, no. 4 (2014): 979–99. Wright, Q. Study of War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964.
Year 2019, Volume: 8 Issue: 2, 135 - 156, 01.07.2019
https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.476414

Abstract

References

  • Barnett, R. “Guerillas Convene 'Peace Conference'.” United Press International. Bogota, Colombia, 1985. Aydin, A., and P. M. Regan. “Networks of Third–party Interveners and Civil War Duration.” European Journal of International Relations 18, no. 3 (2011): 573–97. Bakke, K. M. Copying and learning from outsiders? Assessing diffusion from transnational insurgents in the Chechen wars. In Transnational Dynamics of Civil War, edited by J. Y. Checkel, 31–62. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Balch–Lindsay, D., and A. J. Enterline. “Killing Time: The World Politics of Civil War Duration, 1820–1992.” International Studies Quarterly 44, no. 4 (2000): 615–42. Barnett, R. J. Intervention and Revolution: America’s Confrontation with Insurgent Movements Around the World. Ontario: New American Library, 1968. Beck, N., J. N. Katz, and R. Tucker. “Taking Time Seriously.” American Journal of Political Science 42, no. 4 (1998): 1260–88. Bouthoul, G. War. New York: Walker,1963. Bouthoul, G., R. Carrère, and G. Köhler. “A List of the 366 Major Armed Conflicts of the Period 1740–1974.” Peace Research 10, no. 3 (1978): 83–108. Boyd, G. M. “Reagan Accuses Soviet of Aiding Latin Terrorists.” The New York Times, January 3, 1986. Burnham, P., K. G. Lutz, and W. Grant. Research Methods in Political Science. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Carment, D., P. James, and Z. Taydas. “The Internationalization of Ethnic Conflict: State, Society, and Synthesis.” International Studies Review 11, no. 1 (2009): 63–86. Carter, D. B., and C. S. Signorino. “Back to the Future: Modeling Time Dependence in Binary Data.” Political Analysis 18, no. 3 (2010): 271–92. Cederman, L. E., L. Girardin, and K. S. Gleditsch. “Ethnonationalist Triads: Assessing the Influence of Kin Groups on Civil Wars.” World Politics 61, no. 3 (2009): 403–37. Cederman, L. E., K. S. Gleditsch, I. Salehyan, and J. Wucherpfennig (2013). “Transborder Ethnic Kin and Civil War.” International Organization 67, no. 2: 389–410. Collier, P., and A. Hoeffler. Greed and Grievance in Civil War. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2000. ———. “Greed and Grievance in Civil War.” Oxford Economic Papers 56, no. 4 (2004): 563–95. Cunningham, D. “Blocking Resolution: How External States can Prolong Civil War.” Journal of Peace Research 47, no. 2 (2010): 115–27. ———. “Veto Players and Civil War Duration.” American Journal of Political Science 50, no. 4 (2006): 875–92. Cunningham, D. E., K. S. Gleditsch, and I. Salehyan. “It Takes Two: A Dyadic Analysis of Civil War Duration and Outcome.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 53, no. 4 (2009): 570–97. Cunningham, D. E., K. S. Gleditsch, and I. Salehyan. Non–State Actor Data – Version 3.3., 2009. Davis, D. R., and W. H. Moore. “Ethnicity Matters: Transnational Ethnic Alliances and Foreign Policy Behavior.” International Studies Quarterly 41, no. 1 (1997): 171–84. Deutsch, K. W. External Involvement in Internal War. In Internal War: Problems and Approaches, edited by H. Eckstein, 100–10. New York: Free Press, 1964. Dixon, J. S., and M. R. Sarkees. A Guide to Intra–state Wars: An Examination of Civil, Regional, and Intercommunal Wars, 1816–2014. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2016. Easton, D. The Political System. An Inquiry into the State of Political Science. New York: Knopf, 1953. Fearon, J. D. “Civil War and the Current International System.” Daedalus 146, no. 4 (2017): 18–32. Fearon, J. D., and D. D. Laitin. “Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War.” American Political Science Review 97, no. 1: 75–90. Gasiorowski, M. J. Regime Legitimacy and National Security: The Case of Pahlavi Iran. In National Security in the Third World: The Management of Internal and External Threats, edited by E. E. Azar and C.-in Moon, 227–50. Cambridge, University of Maryland, 1988. Gleditsch, K. S. “Transnational Dimensions of Civil War.” Journal of Peace Research 44, no. 3 (2007): 293–309. Gleditsch, N. P., P. Wallensteen, M. Eriksson, M. Sollenberg, and H. Strand. “Armed Conflict 1946–2001: A New Dataset.” Journal of Peace Research 39, no. 5 (2002): 625–37. Gurr, T. R. Why Men Rebel. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1968. Högbladh, S., T. Pettersson, and L. Themné. “External Support in Armed Conflict 1975–2009.” Paper presented at the 52nd Annual International Studies Association Convention, Montreal, Canada, 2011. Kalyvas, S. N., and L. Balcells. “International System and Technologies of Rebellion: How the End of Cold War Shaped Internal Conflict.” American Political Science Review 104, no. 3 (2010): 415–29. Lemke, D., and W. Reed. “The Relevance of Politically Relevant Dyads.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 45, no. 1 (2001): 126–44. Lyall, J., and L. C. I. Wilson. “Rage Against the Machines: Explaining Outcomes in Counterinsurgency Wars.” International Organization 63, no. 1 (2009): 67–106. Mahavera, S. “Border Alert for Arms Mastermind.” New Straits Times. August, 30, 2003. Maoz, Z., and B. D. Mor. “Enduring Rivalries: The Early Years.” International Political Science Review 17, no. 2 (1996): 141–60. Maoz, Z., and B. Russett. “Normative and Structural Causes of Democratic Peace, 1946–1986.” American Political Science Review 87, no. 3 (1993): 624–38. Maoz, Z., and B. San–Akca. “Rivalry and State Support for Non–state Armed Groups (NAGs).” International Studies Quarterly 56, no. 4 (2012): 720–34. Marshall, M. G., and K. Jaggers. “Polity IV Project:Political Regime Characteristics and Transitions, 1800–2007.” Center for Systemic Peace, Vienna, VA, 2009. Merriam, C. E., and H. F. Gosnell. Non–Voting, Causes and Methods of Control. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1924. Owen, J. M. I. The Clash of Ideas in World Politics: Transnational Networks, States, and Regime Change, 1510–2010. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010. Piazza, J. A. “Is Islamist Terrorism More Dangerous?: An Empirical Study of Group Ideology, Organization, and Goal Structure.” Terrorism and Political Violence 21, no. 1 (2009): 62–88. Popper, K. The Logic of Scientific Discovery. Routledge Classics, 2002[1959]. Regan, P. M. “Conditions of Successful Third–Party Intervention in Intrastate Conflicts.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 40, no. 2 (1996): 336–59. ———. “Third-Party Interventions and the Duration of Intrastate Conflicts.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 46, no. 1 (2002): 55–73. Richardson, L. F. Statistics of Deadly Quarrels Boxwood Press, 1960. Saideman, S. M. “Discrimination in International Relations: Analyzing External Support for Ethnic Groups.” Journal of Peace Research 39, no. 1 (2002): 27–50. ———. “Explaining the International Relations of Secessionist Conflicts: Vulnerability vs. Ethnic Ties.” International Organization 51, no. 4 (1997): 721–53. Saideman, S. M. The Ties That Divide: Ethnic Politics, Foreign Policy, and International Conflict. New York: Colombia University Press, 2001. San-Akca, B. “Dangerous Companions: Cooperation between States and Nonstate Armed Groups.” NAGs Dataset v.04/2015. Koç University, Istanbul, April 2015. nonstatearmedgroups.ku.edu.tr. ———. “Democracy and Vulnerability: An Exploitation Theory of Democracies by Terrorists.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 58, no. 7 (2014): 1285–1310. ———. States in Disguise: Causes of State Support for Rebel Groups. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016. ———. “Supporting Non–State Armed Groups: A Resort to Illegality?” Journal of Strategic Studies 32, no. 4 (2009): 589–613. Sarkees, M. R., and F. Wayman. Resort to War: 1816–2007. Washington DC: CQ Press, 2010. Sawyer, K., K. G. Cunningham, and R. Reed. “ The Role of External Support in Civil War Termination.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 59 (2015):1–29. Singer, J. D., and M. H. Small. “Correlates of War Project: International and Civil War Data, 1816–1992.” ICPSR Study # 9905. Ann Arbor, MI: ICPSR, 1994. Wood, R. M. “From Loss to Looting? Battlefield Costs and Rebel Incentives for Violence.” International Organization 68, no. 4 (2014): 979–99. Wright, Q. Study of War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964.
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Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Belgin Şan-akca This is me

Publication Date July 1, 2019
Published in Issue Year 2019 Volume: 8 Issue: 2

Cite

Chicago Şan-akca, Belgin. “Large-N Analysis in the Study of Conflict”. All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace 8, no. 2 (July 2019): 135-56. https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.476414.

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