Internal war: a cross-cultural study

American Anthropologist • Vol/Iss. 70 • Published In • Pages: 277-289 •
By Otterbein, Keith F.

Abstract

This study examines how social structure, political organization, and intersocietal relations may affect the incidence of internal warfare (between culturally similar political communities). Results show that in uncentralized political systems, fraternal interest groups and unauthorized raiding parties may increase the incidence of internal war.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
HRAF Collection of Ethnography (paper/fiche)
Ethnographic Reports
Ethnographic Atlas (EA)

Hypotheses (9)

HypothesisSupported
". . . the lower the level of political complexity, the more likely the political communities within the cultural unit are to war with each other" (282)Not Supported
". . . the higher the level of political complexity, the less the likelihood of war being initiated by anyone in the political community" (282)Supported
". . . uncentralized political systems are more likely to have war initiated by anyone rather than by an official of the political community if fraternal interest groups are present" (282)Supported
". . . societies in which anyone can initiate war are more likely to have internal war than societies in which an official initiates war" (283)Not Supported
"If we control for level of political complexity, the magnitude of the relationship between the type of initiating party and the frequency of internal war in uncentralized political systems is increased . . ." (283)Supported
". . . internal war will be found in uncentralized political systems characterized by fraternal interest groups; . . . the presence of fraternal interest groups in centralized political systems . . . should have no effect on the frequency of internal war . . ." (284)Supported
". . . internal war will be found in uncentralized political systems characterized by fraternal interest groups; . . . the presence of fraternal interest groups in centralized political systems . . . should have no effect on the frequency of internal war . . ." (284)Not Supported
"If culturally similar political communities unite to engage in external war, then internal war will be infrequent" (285)Not Supported
". . . the more frequently the political communities of a cultural unit are attacked, the more frequently they will attack other societies" (285)Supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: mas  Amelia Piazza