Rivals – states with acrimonious, militarized histories – often intervene on opposing sides of civil conflicts. These interventions are known to exacerbate and prolong civil wars, but scholars have yet to fully understand why states engage in them, given the significant costs and countervailing strategic interests.

Why Rivals Intervene argues that rivals are driven by security considerations at the international level – specifically, the prospect of future confrontations with their rival – to intervene in civil conflicts. Drawing on a theory of rivalry which accounts for this strategic rationale, John Mitton explores three case studies: Indian and Pakistani intervention in Afghanistan, Israeli and Syrian intervention in Lebanon, and US and Soviet intervention in Angola. The book examines a range of evidence, including declassified memoranda, meeting transcripts, government reports, published interviews, memoirs of political leaders, and other evidence of the thought process, rationale, and justifications of relevant decision-makers.

The book claims that the imperatives for intervention are consistent across time and space, as rivals are conditioned by a history of conflict to worry about future confrontations. As a result, Why Rivals Intervene illuminates an important driver of civil conflict, with implications for how such conflicts might be solved or mitigated in the future. At the same time, it offers new insight into the nature of long-standing, acrimonious international relationships.

Drawing on historical case studies, this book explains why international rivals intervene in civil conflicts.

  • Imprint: University of Toronto Press
  • Published: January 2023
  • Pages: 288

John Mitton is a research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Security and Development at Dalhousie University.

"Why Rivals Intervene neatly explains rival states’ competitive interventions in civil conflicts. Carefully researched case studies amply illustrate a straightforward argument about ‘rational rivals’ driven by perceptions of strategic necessity. Mitton’s work provokes debate about international rivalries and contributes to our understanding of regional and great-power competition."

Jonathan M. DiCicco, Professor of Political Science & International Relations, Middle Tennessee State University

"In this well-argued book, John Mitton offers an insightful theory and case studies on why adversaries intervene in third-party civil conflicts and the deeply embedded security considerations deriving from the ‘shadow of the future.’ A thoughtful work on rivalry, civil wars, and international interventions."

T.V. Paul, James McGill Professor of International Relations, McGill University

"Why Rivals Intervene rigorously demonstrates the importance of reputation in determining why and how great powers become entangled in foreign civil conflicts. John Mitton gives a rich, policy-relevant account of an important pathology that exists within international competition – one that forces us to face an otherwise hidden price for undertaking geopolitical rivalry in the first place."

Van Jackson, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, Victoria University of Wellington

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