IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/joupea/v60y2023i3p545-554.html

External support in armed conflicts: Introducing the UCDP external support dataset (ESD), 1975–2017

Author

Listed:
  • Vanessa Meier

    (Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford)

  • Niklas Karlén

    (Department of War Studies and Military History, Swedish Defence University)

  • Therése Pettersson

    (Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University)

  • Mihai Croicu

    (Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University)

Abstract

In this article, we present the most up-to-date, fine-grained, global dataset on external support in armed conflicts: the UCDP External Support Dataset (ESD). The dataset encompasses data on states and non-state actors as both supporters and recipients and provides detailed information on the type of support provided to warring parties in armed conflicts between 1975 and 2017. We use it to highlight three broader trends in the provision of external support: (1) a dramatic increase in the number of external supporters, (2) a larger share of pro-government interventions, and (3) the rise of direct military intervention as the predominant mode of external support. In conclusion, we identify several avenues worthy of future inquiry that could significantly improve our understanding of external support in armed conflicts.

Suggested Citation

  • Vanessa Meier & Niklas Karlén & Therése Pettersson & Mihai Croicu, 2023. "External support in armed conflicts: Introducing the UCDP external support dataset (ESD), 1975–2017," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 60(3), pages 545-554, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:joupea:v:60:y:2023:i:3:p:545-554
    DOI: 10.1177/00223433221079864
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00223433221079864
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00223433221079864?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Salehyan, Idean & Gleditsch, Kristian Skrede & Cunningham, David E., 2011. "Explaining External Support for Insurgent Groups," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(4), pages 709-744, October.
    2. Jaime A Jackson & Belgin San-Akca & Zeev Maoz, 2020. "International support networks and the calculus of uprising," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 57(5), pages 632-647, September.
    3. Mark Toukan, 2019. "International politics by other means: External sources of civil war," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 56(6), pages 812-826, November.
    4. Lyall, Jason & Wilson, Isaiah, 2009. "Rage Against the Machines: Explaining Outcomes in Counterinsurgency Wars," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 63(1), pages 67-106, January.
    5. Nina von Uexkull & Therese Pettersson, 2018. "Issues and Actors in African Nonstate Conflicts: A New Data Set," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(5), pages 953-968, September.
    6. Schultz, Kenneth A., 2010. "The Enforcement Problem in Coercive Bargaining: Interstate Conflict over Rebel Support in Civil Wars," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 64(2), pages 281-312, April.
    7. Salehyan, Idean & Siroky, David & Wood, Reed M., 2014. "External Rebel Sponsorship and Civilian Abuse: A Principal-Agent Analysis of Wartime Atrocities," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 68(3), pages 633-661, July.
    8. Reyko Huang & Patricia L Sullivan, 2021. "Arms for education? External support and rebel social services," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 58(4), pages 794-808, July.
    9. Brandon Ives, 2019. "Religious Institutionalism: A Domestic Explanation for External Support of Rebel Groups," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(4), pages 693-719, July.
    10. Nils B. Weidmann, 2016. "A Closer Look at Reporting Bias in Conflict Event Data," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 60(1), pages 206-218, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dov H Levin, 2025. "Introducing PEIG 2.0: Sixty-nine years of partisan electoral interventions 1946–2014," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 42(5), pages 578-598, September.
    2. Latife Kınay-Kılıç & Ersel Aydınlı & Efe Tokdemir, 2025. "Target state responses to external support of rebel groups: Revealing the impact of support level and interstate strategic interaction," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 42(5), pages 465-487, September.
    3. Sara Daub, 2025. "Protection from afar? Diaspora support for rebel groups and civilian victimization," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 62(6), pages 1857-1872, November.
    4. Hannah Smidt & Constantin Ruhe & Sabine Otto, 2025. "Many hurdles to take: Explaining peacekeepers’ ability to engage in human rights activities," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 62(4), pages 1095-1111, July.
    5. Joop Adema & Lasha Chargaziia & Yvonne Giesing & Sarah Necker & Panu Poutvaara, 2025. "What Drives Refugees’ Return After Conflict?," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 2565, ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin).
    6. Lindsey A Goldberg, 2025. "Women’s roles and reproductive violence within armed rebellions," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 62(6), pages 1611-1628, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ji Yeon Hong & Wenhui Yang, 2022. "Conditional cross-border effects of terrorism in China," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 39(3), pages 266-290, May.
    2. Latife Kınay-Kılıç & Ersel Aydınlı & Efe Tokdemir, 2025. "Target state responses to external support of rebel groups: Revealing the impact of support level and interstate strategic interaction," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 42(5), pages 465-487, September.
    3. Mercier, Marion & Silve, Arthur & Tremblay-Auger, Benjamin, 2023. "Building Reputation: Proxy Wars and Transnational Identities," IZA Discussion Papers 16340, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Matthew Cebul & Jonathan Pinckney, 2025. "Nonviolent alternatives reduce external support for rebel groups: Evidence from two cross-national survey experiments," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 62(6), pages 1839-1856, November.
    5. Joel Blaxland, 2021. "Thinking outside the (temporal) box to explain protracted intrastate conflict," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 58(6), pages 1271-1283, November.
    6. Reyko Huang & Patricia L Sullivan, 2021. "Arms for education? External support and rebel social services," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 58(4), pages 794-808, July.
    7. Yuri M. Zhukov & Charles H. Anderton & Jurgen Brauer, "undated". "On the Logistics of Violence," Working Paper 255276, Harvard University OpenScholar.
    8. Hans-Inge Langø, 2023. "Intervention, war expansion, and the international sources of civil war," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 40(3), pages 304-324, May.
    9. Toke S. Aidt & Facundo Albornoz & Esther Hauk, 2021. "Foreign Influence and Domestic Policy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 59(2), pages 426-487, June.
    10. Sara Norrevik & Mehwish Sarwari, 2021. "Third-party regime type and civil war duration," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 58(6), pages 1256-1270, November.
    11. Patricia L. Sullivan & Johannes Karreth, 2015. "The conditional impact of military intervention on internal armed conflict outcomes," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 32(3), pages 269-288, July.
    12. Eric Keels & Jay Benson & Michael Widmeier, 2021. "Teaching from experience: foreign training and rebel success in civil War," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 38(6), pages 696-717, November.
    13. Mitchell Radtke & Hyeran Jo, 2018. "Fighting the Hydra," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 55(6), pages 759-773, November.
    14. Lucia Bird, 2023. "Motivations of diaspora support in homeland civil conflict," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 60(2), pages 226-242, March.
    15. Wakako Maekawa, 2023. "External intelligence assistance and the recipient government’s violence against civilians," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 40(5), pages 511-532, September.
    16. Karin Johansson & Mehwish Sarwari, 2019. "Sexual violence and biased military interventions in civil conflict1," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 36(5), pages 469-493, September.
    17. Böhmelt Tobias & Dworschak Christoph & Pilster Ulrich & Walterskirchen Julian, 2020. "A Cross-National Analysis of Forced Population Resettlement in Counterinsurgency Campaigns," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 26(1), pages 1-13, February.
    18. Yang Yun Jung, 2026. "Who Your Friends are Matters: Types of Supporters and Child Recruitment by Rebel Groups," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 32(1), pages 1-24.
    19. Leopoldo Fergusson & Carlos Molina, 2020. "Facebook Causes Protests," HiCN Working Papers 323, Households in Conflict Network.
    20. Pearce Edwards & Patrick Pierson, 2023. "Incumbent-Aligned Terrorism and Voting Behavior: Evidence from Argentina’s 1973 Elections," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 67(4), pages 672-700, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:joupea:v:60:y:2023:i:3:p:545-554. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.prio.no/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.