Awards

• Short-listed for Conflict Research Society (CRS) Book of the Year Prize 2019 (United States)

Overview

Why do some military and rebel groups commit many types of violence, creating an impression of senseless chaos, whereas others carefully control violence against civilians? A classic catch-22 faces the leaders of armed groups and provides the title for Amelia Hoover Green's book. Leaders need large groups of people willing to kill and maim-but to do so only under strict control. How can commanders control violence when fighters who are not under direct supervision experience extraordinary stress, fear, and anger? The Commander's Dilemma argues that discipline is not enough in wartime. Restraint occurs when fighters know why they are fighting and believe in the cause-that is, when commanders invest in political education. Drawing on extraordinary evidence about state and nonstate groups in El Salvador, and extending her argument to the Mano River wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, Amelia Hoover Green shows that investments in political education can improve human rights outcomes even where rational incentives for restraint are weak-and that groups whose fighters lack a sense of purpose may engage in massive violence even where incentives for restraint are strong. Hoover Green concludes that high levels of violence against civilians should be considered a ""default setting,"" not an aberration.

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9781501726477

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Reviews

The Commander's Dilemma is a must-read book that makes a novel contribution to the literature of civilian victimization during civil war. Focusing on repertoires of armed group violence, Hoover Green focuses on the links between political education and practices of both violence and restraint. Beyond the fact that the analysis and findings are compelling, Hoover Green also provides a model for how an author can engage in ethical and personal reflections while presenting a coherent and well-defended argument. I highly recommend it. -- Erica Chenoweth, Professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver, and coauthor of the award-winning <I>Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict</I> Amelia Hoover Green's project has been carried through with scrupulous attention to detail. I am extremely impressed by the care with which Hoover Green developed her theory on how military commanders succeed (or fail) in socializing soldiers to exercise violence in battle yet treat civilians in a deliberately nonviolent way. -- Leigh Binford, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Staten Island, City University of New York, and coeditor of Landscapes of Struggle: Politics, Community, and the Nation-State in Twentieth Century El Salvador

The Commander's Dilemma is a must-read book that makes a novel contribution to the literature of civilian victimization during civil war. Focusing on repertoires of armed group violence, Hoover Green focuses on the links between political education and practices of both violence and restraint. Beyond the fact that the analysis and findings are compelling, Hoover Green also provides a model for how an author can engage in ethical and personal reflections while presenting a coherent and well-defended argument. I highly recommend it. --Erica Chenoweth, Professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver, and coauthor of the award-winning Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict Amelia Hoover Green's project has been carried through with scrupulous attention to detail. I am extremely impressed by the care with which Hoover Green developed her theory on how military commanders succeed (or fail) in socializing soldiers to exercise violence in battle yet treat civilians in a deliberately nonviolent way. --Leigh Binford, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Staten Island, City University of New York, and coeditor of Landscapes of Struggle: Politics, Community, and the Nation-State in Twentieth Century El Salvador

"""Amelia Hoover Green’s project has been carried through with scrupulous attention to detail. I am extremely impressed by the care with which Hoover Green developed her theory on how military commanders succeed (or fail) in socializing soldiers to exercise violence in battle yet treat civilians in a deliberately nonviolent way."" -- Leigh Binford, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Staten Island, City University of New York, and coeditor of<I> Landscapes of Struggle: Politics, Community, and the Nation-State in Twentieth Century El Salvador</I> ""The Commander's Dilemma is a must-read book that makes a novel contribution to the literature of civilian victimization during civil war. Focusing on repertoires of armed group violence, Hoover Green focuses on the links between political education and practices of both violence and restraint. Beyond the fact that the analysis and findings are compelling, Hoover Green also provides a model for how an author can engage in ethical and personal reflections while presenting a coherent and well-defended argument. I highly recommend it."" -- Erica Chenoweth, Professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver, and coauthor of the award-winning <I>Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict</I>"

Author Information

Amelia Hoover Green is Assistant Professor of Politics at Drexel University and a consultant to the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG). At Drexel, she teaches courses in comparative politics, research methods, and armed conflict; for HRDAG, she has consulted on wartime rights violations in Kosovo, Liberia, El Salvador, and other places. She lives in Philadelphia with her family.

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