Veranstaltungsbericht
On October 25, 2023, the workshop “The Internationalization of Intrastate Conflict” took place at Goethe University Frankfurt. The workshop, organized by the members of Research Area 1.1 Findings on the Forms, Causes and Consequences of Political Violence, was attended by TraCe members as well as external PhD and MA students. On three panels, the scholars discussed the historical and contemporary change of the internationalization of armed conflictt.
Together with Felix Bethke (PRIF) and Frederik Schißler (PRIF), TraCe members Prof. Dr Hanna Pfeifer, Prof. Dr Constantin Ruhe, Prof. Dr Jonas Wolff, Dr Regine Schwab and Dr Jonas Driedger presented a first sketch of a paper meant to introduce the debates revolving arount the contested concept of internationalization of armed conflict.
Anastasia Shesterinina (University of York & Centre for the Comparative Study of Civil War) continued by presenting a paper co-authored with Eduardo Álvarez on the effect of external support on rebel cohesion. In her contribution, she offered a relational and processual perspective on the internationalization of intra-state conflicts.
In the second block, Margit Busmann (University of Greifswald) investigated the domestic side of French military interventions by drawing on theories on the diversionary use of force. Sara Daub (Hertie School) shed light on the role of diaspora sponsorship in armed conflict.
In the third block, TraCe Visiting Fellow Dr Jonah Schulhofer-Wohl (Leiden University) presented a paper on civil war onset and the question as to whether the “new new civil wars” thesis (Barbara Walter) is supported by quantitative empirical evidence. Prof. Stathis Kalyvas (University of Oxford & member of the TraCe Scientific Advisory Board) then concluded the workshop by relating the concept of internationalization to his fundamental typology on macrophenomena of political violence
At the end of the workshop, participants gathered for an informal dinner and exchange.