Abstract

This paper examines why some domestic insurgencies escalate into regional or international conflicts and why some conflicts can be successfully resolved. How does the “local” become “global”? While this paper is mostly theoretical, it does refer to successful examples of long-running conflicts which have been contained and even resolved: it briefly refers to the insurgencies in Aceh, Indonesia, and those in Sierra Leone and Liberia and it compares these “successful” cases with other insurgencies which have not yet been resolved such as the conflict in Southern Thailand and that in Mindanao, the Philippines. Despite the limited examples here, these are global questions which reflect conflicts in the Middle East and Africa as well. This paper posits that there is a combination of domestic, regional and international variables which contribute to the successful resolution of violent internal conflict. Globalization has facilitated the recruitment and training of actors willing and able to become involved in insurgencies so it is critical to better understand these conflicts.