This timely collection investigates the meaning of the widely used term 'warlordism' in contemporary global politics. The introduction develops an analytical framework in order for scholars to understand the range and differing intensity of differing types of warlordist and sub-state conflict.

List of Figures Notes on the Contributors Abbreviations Introduction; P.B.Rich The Emergence and Significance of Warlordism in International Politics; P.B.Rich The Arms Trade and Militarised Actors in Internal Conflict; N.Cooper Warlordism and Drug Trafficking from South East Asia to Sub-Saharan Africa; G.Segell Privatising Security, Privatising War? The New Warrior Class and Regional Security; K.O'Brien The Militarisation of Ethnicity and the Emergence of Warlordism in Rwanda; M.McNulty The Collapse of Albania and a Different Type of Warlord: Criminal Gangs; P.Tripodi Clan Conflict and Factionalism in Somalia; S.Makinda Warlordism and Political Violence in Jammu and Kashmir 1988-97: Gun Rule?; A.Evans The Warlord and Global Order ; S.Chan Index