Doctrine and violence: the impact of combatant training on civilian killings

Military theorists and practitioners have long argued that training shapes how combatants treat civilians during war. Yet there is little systematic evidence regarding the impact of training on wartime behavior, and almost none for non-state armed groups, despite the fact that such groups intensivel...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Oppenheim, Ben (Author) ; Weintraub, Michael (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2017
In: Terrorism and political violence
Year: 2017, Volume: 29, Issue: 6, Pages: 1126-1148
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Keywords:
Civil War
civilian victimization
Colombia
FARC
Ideology
indoctrination
Training
Violence
Description
Summary:Military theorists and practitioners have long argued that training shapes how combatants treat civilians during war. Yet there is little systematic evidence regarding the impact of training on wartime behavior, and almost none for non-state armed groups, despite the fact that such groups intensively train their fighters in order to shape their behavior towards civilian populations. This article argues that among insurgent groups that emphasize the strategic and tactical importance of restraint towards civilian populations, political training can reduce civilian killings. We test the observable implications of our theory in the case of Colombia, using survey data on former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) insurgents and sub-national data on civilian killings. We find support for our hypothesis, with results that are robust to a range of model specifications and controls, including alternate sources of combatant discipline and obedience, such as military training and punishment.
Item Description:Gesehen am 21.11.2023
Published online: 22 Jan 2016
ISSN:1556-1836
DOI:10.1080/09546553.2015.1131156