The varieties of paramilitaries paper present to Dublin zoom conference June 10, 2021

Abstract

ABSTRACT This is a short commentary upon five articles. The main themes of these articles are the roles of paramilitaries in civil wars, focusing specifically on Colombia and the former Yugoslavia. While recommending the quality of the articles, this paper explores two lines of criticism. The first concerns the insufficient attention paid to ideological paramilitaries, who are significant for a number of reasons, including their remarkable resilience in combat. Second, while the papers discuss how paramilitaries fund themselves, the focus is solely upon the commanders. In understanding the paramilitary mobilization it is also important to understand how the rank-in-file support themselves.