External support in armed conflicts: Introducing the UCDP external support dataset (ESD), 1975–2017
| Published date | 01 May 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00223433221079864 |
| Date | 01 May 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Special Data Features |
External support in armed conflicts:
Introducing the UCDP external support
dataset (ESD), 1975–2017
Vanessa Meier
Department of Politics and International
Relations, University of Oxford
Niklas Karle
´n
Department of War Studies and Military
History, Swedish Defence University
There
´se Pettersson
Department of Peace and Conflict Research,
Uppsala University
Mihai Croicu
Department of Peace and Conflict Research,
Uppsala University
Abstract
In this article, we present the most up-to-date, fine-grained, global dataset on external support in armed conflicts: the
UCDP External Support Dataset (ESD). The dataset encompasses data on states and non-state actors as both
supporters and recipients and provides detailed information on the type of support provided to warring parties in
armed conflicts between 1975 and 2017. We use it to highlight three broader trends in the provision of external
support: (1) a dramatic increase in the number of external supporters, (2) a larger share of pro-government inter-
ventions, and (3) the rise of direct military intervention as the predominant mode of external support. In conclusion,
we identify several avenues worthy of future inquiry that could significantly improve our understanding of external
support in armed conflicts.
Keywords
conflict delegation, external support, military intervention, proxy war
Introduction
In 2019, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP)
recorded the highest number of internal armed conflicts
with foreign troop involvement since the end of World
War II (Pettersson & O
¨berg, 2020: 599). This number
increases considerably when we add the many indirect
ways in which outside actors support warring parties short
of direct intervention. Saudi airstrikes in Yemen, Russian
‘little green men’ in Ukraine, al-Qaida funding the Pakis-
tani Taliban,Hezbollah fighting on behalf of Iranin Syria,
a coalition of states combating jihadists in Mali, the
United Arab Emirates and Turkey engaging in proxy war-
fare in Libya, and Turkish Kurds receiving training by
Syrian Rojava fighters constitute just a small sample of
recent third-party involvement in armed conflicts.
Research on the involvement of external actors in civil
wars has grown exponentially in recent years. Novel
theories have emphasized the importance of broadening
our conceptualization of civil wars by incorporating
actors other than the main warring parties (Gleditsch,
2007; Salehyan, 2010; Toukan, 2019; Moghadam &
Wyss, 2020) that profoundly shape conflict processes.
A range of subfields have discussed the nature and
impact of different types of outside involvement under
labels such as third-party intervention,external support,
state sponsorship,delegation,proxy warfare,transnational
alliances,andcompetitive interventions. However, data
limitations have significantly hampered this burgeoning
and wide-ranging research agenda. In particular, we lack
current, comprehensive, time-varying, and global data
that encompass both state and non-state actors as
Corresponding author:
therese.pettersson@pcr.uu.se
Journal of Peace Research
2023, Vol. 60(3) 545–554
ªThe Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/00223433221079864
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