Following the Money: Financing the T erritorial Expansion of Islamist Insurgents in Syria

Description

facilitation network has
limited support to FSA, which
seems unlikely to change.
Further
spread of the conflict
–
through attacks sponsored by JN or ISIS, or fundraising through crime
–
also seems
plausible, with
prospects for a negot
iated settlement diminish ever further.
Introduction
During
the early stages of
civil
conflicts with
fragmented insurgencies,
armed opposition
groups
often oscillates
between joining forces to fight the common state enemy and jockeying
to become the dominant insurgent organization.
1
As Syria
continuous to suffer through an
exceedingly brutal civil war, numerous factors influence
which groups
will become dominant
as the
fragmented insurgency begins to coalesce.
But access to financing is a vital asset,
which rebel leaders can use as leverage to extend their territorial control and military clout.
2
Whilst financing does not automatically translate into military might
–
ac
cess to vital military
technologies such as anti
-
tank and air defense weapons may for instance require state support
3
–
it certainly facilitates it. Well
-
organized, resilient and reliable funding networks allow rebels
to access small arms, provide basic se
rvices to areas under its control, procure logistical
supplies for its fighters and in some cases pay them wages.
4
In this sense, access to financing
is certainly one factor
–
alongside ideological resonance, civilian support, organizational
resilience and
tactical skills
–
which determines which rebel groups rise to prominence.
Whilst insurgent groups are sometimes treated as largely identical, recent research has shown
that non
-
state actors acquire and expend their financial resources differently, even in
the same
civil war.
5
Major sources of income include state financing
6
, involvement in transnational
crime
7
, diaspora support
8
, “taxation” or extortion of civilians....more