THE STATE OF RESEARCH ON INTERNAL WAR

The paper evaluates current knowledge about the nature of internal war and the types of research being undertaken to increase this knowledge. There were 380 conflicts in the world in the 19 years following World War 2, involving 81 percent of the 123 independent countries in the world. During this period, there were from 13 to 30 new conflicts each year and an average of 13.6 on-going conflicts each month, but there was no formal declaration of war in any conflict. The crucial conceptual issues about internal war are still in the pretheoretical stage. New research on internal war should examine the interaction of the antagonists on a time-line basis, utilize reliable attitudinal data, and examine what happens after hostilities are over, since the real impact of a revolution seems to occur after rather than during the period of active combat. (Author)