Violent Non-State Actors : Contours, Challenges and Consequences

Abstract

and criminal organisations operate in a common opportunity space, intersecting and overlapping in ways that make the restoration of a legitimate and effective central state particularly difficult. VNSAs play a prominent, often destabilising role in nearly every humanitarian and political crisis faced by the international community. 3 As a new class of actors in international relations, VNSAs represent a departure from the traditional Westphalian system of states in two ways: by providing an alternative to state governance and challenging the state's monopoly of violence. VNSAs develop out of poor state governance but also contribute to further undermining governance by the state. When weak states are unable to create or maintain the loyalty and allegiance of their populations, individuals and groups typically revert to, or develop, alternative patterns of affiliation. This causes the family, tribe, clan, etc. to become "the main reference points for political action, often in opposition to the state". 4 Genesis and the Drivers of VNSAs In a sense, VNSAs have been around for millennia. Even Rome, at the height of its power, had to contend with roaming criminal bands that preyed on its citizens as well as with maritime pirates. During the 20th century, however, such groups were relatively insignificant, dwarfed by the process of state consolidation and the contest among powerful nation-states. VNSAs became a critical part of the decolonisation process, but this was essentially because they wanted to control the state themselves rather than being subservient to foreign and distant rulers. In the 21 st century, however, VNSAs have reemerged in large part because of the growing weakness of many states, that they seek to perpetuate and intensify. The notion of weak states, of course, is inherently relative. Perhaps the best way to understand contemporary states, therefore, is VNSAs develop out of poor state governance but also contribute to further undermining governance by the state.