The transformation of the regional order and non-state armed actors: Pathways to the empowerment

Abstract

This chapter seeks to contextualize the proliferation of the non-state armed actors (NSAA) that have grown in numbers, expanded their capacity, and started to play decisive roles in regional security affairs, by situating it within the regional transformation. It argues that the phenomenon of NSAAs evolves within the overlapping processes of the reconfiguration of the states, the region, and regional security dynamics. It starts by analyzing different dimensions of the regional transformation under five different headings. Then, it moves from the assumption that the undoing of the regional order has given way to a new wave of insecurities, corresponding to four sectors of security, namely state security, regime security, interstate security, and human and societal security. These various patterns of insecurity, in turn, are argued to create different causal pathways that explain the emergence, proliferation, and empowerment of the NSAAs. The chapter identifies some of these causal pathways that produce different categories of the NSAAs, which are elaborated throughout this edited volume.