Violent non-state actors in world politics: Their formation, actions, and effects

In the recent past, terrorism has come to the fore as a major international problem. In addition, other violent non-state actors, such as insurgents or freedom fighters, have played an increasingly visible role in world affairs. A look at history, however, reveals that such actors have played an important part in world affairs for quite some time. Their role(s), however, have never been studied systematically. Instead, they are generally filtered out of studies on conflict; not even appearing on the radar screen of the typical scholar of international affairs. In this dissertation, I introduce a data set which I have compiled on such actors, and I perform some preliminary tests to determine the extent of their influence. I also discuss questions for future research on this topic.