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Winning Hearts and Minds for Rebel Rulers: Foreign Aid and Military Contestation in Syria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2021

Allison Carnegie Open the ORCID record for Allison Carnegie [Opens in a new window] ,
Kimberly Howe ,
Adam G. Lichtenheld Open the ORCID record for Adam G. Lichtenheld [Opens in a new window]  and
Dipali Mukhopadhyay
Allison Carnegie*
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Kimberly Howe
Affiliation:
Feinstein International Center, Tufts University, Medford MA, USA
Adam G. Lichtenheld
Affiliation:
Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
Dipali Mukhopadhyay
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: allison.carnegie@columbia.edu
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Abstract

A primary objective of foreign aid in conflict zones is to help political actors win citizens’ ‘hearts and minds’. Previous studies have focused on assistance provided to state actors; however, this article examines aid's impact on rebel governance. It argues that aid only bolsters opinions of rebel governors where military control is uncontested. In contested areas, rebels lose credibility if they cannot offer protection, and they have difficulty delivering – and receiving credit for – services in insecure environments crowded with competitors. Using novel data from the Syrian civil war, this article shows that aid improves opinions of opposition councils in uncontested areas but not in communities experiencing intra-rebel conflict. It also explores the underlying mechanisms using in-depth interviews with residents of Aleppo City and Saraqeb. The findings reveal a more nuanced relationship among aid, military competition and governance than prior studies have suggested, which has implications for both scholars and policy makers.

Keywords

foreign aidSyriacivil warrebel governance
Type
Article
Information
British Journal of Political Science , Volume 52 , Issue 3 , July 2022 , pp. 1333 - 1354
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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