Title : The Debate on Warlordism: the importance of military legitimacy
Discussion Paper No : 13 (series 1)
Author(s) : Antonio Giustozzi
Date : September 2005
[PDF]
Abstract: Despite the
careless use of the terms ' warlord' and ' warlordism' by the
media, both have become increasingly popular among academics,
even if some scholars object to their use. This paper draws on
direct field experience as well as the ongoing debate. It aims,
on the one hand, to reconcile the different perspectives - which
are often not necessarily at odds with each other - and on the
other hand, to propose a definition of 'warlordism' for the
social sciences that is both closer to that used so far by
historians and at the same time consistent with emerging
evidence from the field.