Introducing REBLEX: A new dataset on rebel leaders in exile

Rebel leaders’ exile that constitutes transnational nature of civil war can influence civil war dynamics as well as post-conflict phenomena. Nevertheless, the exile of insurgent leaders has garnered less academic attention than that of outgoing state leaders. In this article, we introduce a new dataset that records extensive information on the exile of all rebel leaders active from 1960 to 2020, over the span of 1960 to 2023. The Rebel Leaders in Exile (REBLEX) dataset contains information on exile period, destinations, types, and activities. The article describes the structure of the dataset and variables, reveals spatial and temporal patterns of exile, and demonstrates the potential applications of the data for future research. In particular, it suggests that the REBLEX dataset can contribute to investigating a wide range of research topics, including rebels’ exile as a war strategy, its impact on civil war diffusion and outcomes, insurgent leaders’ post-tenure fates, war recurrence, and postwar peace-building process.