War in Syria: the translocal dimension of fighter mobilization

Current research on civil war neglects the effect of translocal ties on the mobilization of fighters in armed groups (AGs). Yet the Syrian war demonstrates the necessity to pay close attention to this twofold process: Analysing YPG, Hizballah and FSA networks, we argue that AGs are more likely to persist and avoid fragmentation in the long-term if they maintain strong linkages with local communities (local anchoring) and functioning linkages...