DRIIE-International relations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://debdfdsi.snspa.ro/handle/123456789/254

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Armed groups : theory and classification
(Nauka Publishing House, 2019-06) Miroiu, Andrei
This paper argues in favor of a theory and classification of armed groups that sets them at the center of political and social sciences. By starting with the problem of order, it posits that without armed groups one cannot understand how stable societies form, function and reproduce themselves. It challenges the preeminence of concepts such as class and gender, which are seen as depicting later-formed social structures. It proposes a classification of armed groups based on their permanent or impermanent character, and the reasons for using violence, which are considered to be mostly extractive and ideological. Extraction could be internal and external, permanent or nonpermanent. Ideological armed groups are taken here to include religiously-motivated groups as well. The article also discusses armed groups operating within the state. The central argument is that the armed group is a fundamental unit of politics, order and functioning of a society. This essentially establishes that other forms of power are either derived from, rest on or at least suppose the support of armed groups. They transcend "normal" politics understood as peaceful periods in life of constituted communities. They can be outsiders, existing before and between the states. Armed groups precede classes and governments and do not need them to exist in order to continue their functioning. In this, they are to be understood as an elementary social structure. If so, consequences for social theory are substantial, as armed groups should in this case achieve the prominence that concepts such as state, class, social division of work or even kinship had until now.
Book review : Theorizing medieval geopolitics: war and world order in the age of the Crusades
(Routledge, 2012) Miroiu, Andrei
International Relations (IR) scholars' interest in medieval politics varies between enthusiasm and neglect. After a serious debate between neorealists, Marxists and constructivists in the 1990s, a relative silence fell on the subject. The victory of constructivists, who argued that the medieval state—if such entity even existed—was an altogether different polity from its modern incarnation and therefore not really interesting for understanding contemporary processes, seemed definitive. In this climate, Andrew Latham's thesis in Theorizing medieval geopolitics comes as a necessary and interesting reinterpretation aimed at restarting the debate and at introducing new questions and avenues for research.
book review: Regional and International Relations of Central Europe
(Cambridge University Press, 2013-09) Miroiu, Andrei
As many scholars interested in European affairs have noticed, academic as well as general interest in Central (and, one may add, Eastern) Europe has dropped markedly after the turn of the century. There is little doubt that this is due to the perceived stability of the area in the aftermath of the accession of its states to the European Union and NATO and the cooling down of violent conflicts in the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. A new major project on the topic was justifiable merely for this reason, but the current massive crisis in Europe, with its questioning of the basic assumptions of further economic and political integration inside the EU, provides a pressing necessity for such a book.
Early Cold War Counterinsurgency: The Romanian Campaign in Comparative Perspective (1944-1962)
(Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024-07) Miroiu, Andrei
This paper offers a comparison between Romanian communist counterinsurgency (1944-1962) and similar campaigns fought by Western and Eastern governments in the early Cold War, in particular those waged by the British and French governments in their African, Asian and European colonies and those of the Soviet Union in its borderlands. The comparison focuses on three main components, population control, intelligence and military operations. Highlighting both similarities and differences across different cultural, economic, geographical, ethnic and political landscapes, the perspective laid out in this paper is an argument in favour of systematic and sustained comparative approaches to asymmetric warfare.
Mali : conflict, social order and the crime-terror nexus
(Accent Publisher, 2024-07) Miroiu, Andrei; Alecu, Ana Raluca
This article examines the relationship between conflict, social order, and the crime-terror nexus, with a focus on non-state armed groups in Mali, particularly Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM). Using anarchist political theory, the study challenges the view of these groups as purely chaotic, instead suggesting their primary aim is to establish social order. The crime-terror nexus is explored to understand its role in new governance structures created by these groups. The study underscores the importance of re-evaluating the frameworks used to interpret armed groups, emphasizing their role in creating social order and stability in conflict zones. The research offers insights into the complex dynamics of armed groups in Mali and encourages further investigation into their influence on regional stability
Military Operations in Romanian Anti-Partisan Warfare, 1944-1958
(Taylor & Francis LTD, 2014-02) Miroiu, Andrei
Romanian anti-communist armed resistance has received relatively little attention outside the country, despite its resemblance to other small, diffused, headless insurgencies being fought in the first decades of the twenty-first century. This article deals with military operations mounted against the partisans, with a special focus on tactics such as cordoning, checkpoints, patrols, sweeps, ambushes, and informed strikes. Based mostly on primary sources, it highlights success and failure against determined and elusive guerrillas.

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