Through case studies of Afghanistan, Lebanon, Israel/Palestine and Turkey, this volume examines the manifold roles of external nonstate actors in influencing the outcome of hostilities within a state's borders.

Intrastate conflicts, such as civil wars and ethnic confrontations, are the predominant form of organized violence in the world today. But internal strife can destabilize entire regions, drawing in people living beyond state borders—particularly those who share ideology, ethnicity, or kinship with one of the groups involved. These nonstate actors may not be enlisted in formal armies or political parties, but they can play a significant role in a conflict. For example, when foreign volunteers forge alliances with domestic groups, they tend to attract other foreign interventions and may incite the state to centralize its power. Diasporan populations, depending on their connection to their homeland, might engage politically through financial support or overt aggression, either exacerbating or mitigating the conflict.

Nonstate Actors in Intrastate Conflicts takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the ways external individuals and groups become entangled with volatile states and how they influence the outcome of hostilities within a country's borders. Editors Dan Miodownik and Oren Barak bring together top scholars to examine case studies in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Israel/Palestine, and Turkey in order to explore the manifold roles of external nonstate actors. By shedding light on these overlooked participants—whose causes and consequences can turn the tide of war—Nonstate Actors in Intrastate Conflicts provides a critical new perspective on the development and neutralization of civil war and ethnic violence.

Contributors: Oren Barak, Chanan Cohen, Robert A. Fitchette, Orit Gazit, Gallia Lindenstrauss, Nava Löwenheim, David Malet, Dan Miodownik, Maayan Mor, Avraham Sela, Gabriel (Gabi) Sheffer, Omer Yair.

Introduction
—Dan Miodownik and Oren Barak with Maayan Mor and Omer Yair
Chapter 1. The 'Modern Sherwood Forest': Theoretical and Practical Challenges
—Oren Barak and Chanan Cohen
Chapter 2. Framing to Win: The Transnational Recruitment of Foreign Insurgents
—David Malet
Chapter 3. State, Society, and Transnational Networks: The Arab Volunteers in the Afghan War (1984-1990)
—Avraham Sela and Robert A. Fitchette
Chapter 4. A Conceptual Framework for Understanding the Roles of Diasporas in Intrastate Conflicts
—Gabriel Sheffer
Chapter 5. Turkey's Dual Problem: Between Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora
—Nava Löwenheim
Chapter 6. Turkey, the Kurds, and Turkey's Incursions into Iraq: The Effects of Securitization and Desecuritization Processes
—Gallia M. Lindenstrauss
Chapter 7. From a Militia to a Diasporic Community: The Changing Identity of the South Lebanese Army
—Orit Gazit
Chapter 8. Domestic-Regional Interactions and Outside Intervention in Intrastate Conflicts: Insights from Lebanon
—Avraham Sela and Oren Barak

Notes
Bibliography
List of Contributors
Index
Acknowledgments