Non-State Actors as Security Providers
PDF

Keywords

Dwekh Nawsha
Daesh / Islamic State
Non-State Actor
Proxy
Counter-Terrorism
Security / Safety

How to Cite

Kozera, C. (2021). Non-State Actors as Security Providers. Safety & Defense, 7(3), 56-70. https://doi.org/10.37105/sd.152

Abstract

Contemporary “premodern” conflicts, or “new wars” are characterized by the de-professionalization of the use of force and the emergence of various non-state actors: warlords, paramilitary units, sectarian militias, proxies, etc., and their growing role as security providers. This paper examines the status, activities and effectiveness of a non-state actor, Dwekh Nawsha (DN), as a security provider in northern Iraq during the Daesh (aka the so-called “Islamic State”) invasion.

The author investigates DN’s status as a self-defense group and ethno-religious militia; its independence and proxy status; its effectiveness in realizing self-assumed tasks of providing security to the local population; and group participation in combat operations and in the coalition counter-terrorism endeavors.

This article is based on the results of qualitative investigation methods, i.e., interviews with the DN members conducted by the author in Duhok, northern Iraq, in March 2015, follow-up e-mail and telephone exchange, social media analysis, complemented with an overview of existing academic reports, literature, and the news.

The research results allow us to conclude that non-state actors can be of various use to local communities, and not necessarily only combat-related, but also self-assurance for the local population and propagation of their challenges in the international media. However, in order for such a group to exist, it may be necessary to assume patronage and thus become someone’s proxy. Considering DN’s overall limited potential (modest manpower, lack of equipment, diverse training, operational limitations), the author favorably assesses (proportionally to its capacity) the group’s role as a security provider in the Daesh-occupied Iraq.

https://doi.org/10.37105/sd.152
PDF

References

Abouzeid, R. (2014, August, 27). Iraqi Christians Weigh Taking Up Arms Against the Islamic State. The National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/140827-iraq-dahuk-islamic-state-assyrian-christians-peshmerga-nineveh-kurdistan

Associated Press (2014, November, 13). Christians reclaim Iraq village from ISIS. Associated Press (published by CBS News). https://www.cbsnews.com/news/christian-iraq-village-kurdish-peshmerga-fighters-bakufa-isis/

API (2020). Contested Control: The Future of Security in Iraq’s Nineveh Plain. Assyrian Policy Institute. www.assyrianpolicy.org

Bakker E. & de Bont R. (2016). Belgian and Dutch Jihadist Foreign Fighters (2012–2015): Characteristics, Motivations, and Roles in the War in Syria and Iraq, Small Wars & Insurgencies, 27 (5), pp. 837–857, DOI: 10.1080/09592318.2016.1209806.

Barret R. (2017). Beyond the Caliphate: Foreign Fighters and the Threat of Returnees. The Soufan Center.

Belz M. (2016). They Say We Are Infidels: On the Run from ISIS with Persecuted Christians in the Middle East. Tyndale Momentum.

Cetti-Roberts M. (2015, March, 6). Inside the Christian Militias Defending the Nineveh Plains. War is Boring (Archived by the Library of Congress Web Archives). http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20160915094021/https://warisboring.com/inside%2Dthe%2Dchristian%2Dmilitias%2Ddefending%2Dthe%2Dnineveh%2Dplains%2Dfe4a10babeed#.9oyniow59

Cockburn P. (2015). The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the New Sunni Revolution. Verso Books.

Collard R. (2015, March, 27). Meet the Americans Who Have Joined an Iraqi Militia to Fight ISIS, Time. https://time.com/3761211/isis-americans-iraqi-militias/

Creveld, M. Van (1991). The Transformation of War. The Free Press.

Czyż D. (2020, March, 20). I fought for my land [Interview with Majid]. The Eaglewatch Foundation. https://www.orlastraz.org/en/i-fought-for-my-land/

David, C.-P. (2000). La guerre et la paix. Approches contemporaines de la sécurité et la stratégie. Presses de la Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques.

Dunn J. (2015, July, 21). 'Over-inflated egos, unbalanced individuals and a lack of professionalism': British doorman’s… Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3169817/British-nightclub-bouncer-fighting-Isis-Iraq-return-home-five-months-dodging-incoming-tormenting-Daesh-brothers-arms.html

Dwekh Nawsha (2015-2018). DN’s Facebook Account (various posts) https://www.facebook.com/Dwekh.Nawsha/

Dwekh Nawsha (2016, November, 3) Interview with Majid Eliya [in Arabic], DN’s Facebook Account. https://www.facebook.com/Dwekh.Nawsha/videos/1170723246355055/

Dwekh Nawsha (2017, August, 11). 3rd Anniversary Statement [in Arabic], DN’s Facebook Account. https://www.facebook.com/Dwekh.Nawsha/photos/a.692004960893555/1482135491880494/

Kaldor M. (2012). New & Old Wars: Organized Violence In a Global Era. 3rd Edition. Polity

Kozera C. and Klein G. (2015). Tatuaż z Chrystusem, Tygodnik Powszechny, 14 (5th April 2015), pp. 48–50.

Kozera C.A., Bernat P., Gürer C., Popławski B., Sözer M.A. (2020). Game of Proxies – Towards a new model of warfare: Experiences from the CAR, Libya, Mali, Syria, and Ukraine. Security and Defence Quarterly, vol. 31 (4/2020), pp. 76–96, http://doi.org/10.35467/sdq/131787.

La Maisonneuve, E. de. (1997). La violence qui vient. Arléa.

Lewis, J.E. (2003). Iraqi Assyrians: Barometer of Pluralism, Middle East Quarterly, Summer 2003, pp. 49–57. https://www.meforum.org/558/iraqi-assyrians-barometer-of-pluralism

Metzger N. (2015). Iraq's Assyrians battle ISIS for survival. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/20/middleeast/christian-militia-iraq/index.html

Rauta V. (2019). Towards a typology of non-state actors in ‘hybrid warfare’: proxy, auxiliary, surrogate and affiliated forces, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, pp. 1-20, DOI: 10.1080/09557571.2019.1656600.

Revkin M.R. & Wood E.J. (2020) The Islamic State’s Pattern of Sexual Violence: Ideology and Institutions, Policies and Practices, The Journal of Global Security Studies, https://ssrn.com/abstract=3654558; http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3654558.

Shlama (2021). Population Project, Shlama Foundation. https://www.shlama.org/population

Weiss M. & Hassan H. (2015). ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror. Regan Arts.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.