The Parameters of Negotiated Access
Over the last several decades, nonstate
armed groups have become a
common feature of civil conflicts and
internal wars. These Armed Non-
State Actors (ANSAs) go by many
names, including liberation movements,
rebel groups, paramilitaries,
insurgents and warlords, mercenaries
and private military and security
companies. The category could now
also include transnational terrorist
organisations such as Al-Qaeda. The
proliferation of armed non-state
groups mirrors the proliferation of
internal conflicts across the globe.
International wars such as the USled
invasions of Afghanistan and
Iraq are now very much the
exception: virtually all of today’s
conflicts are internal to states, not
international.
