In this book, Ariel Ahram offers a new perspective on a growing threat to international and human security-the reliance of 'weak states' on quasi-official militias, paramilitaries, and warlords. Tracing the history of several and "high profile and " paramilitary organizations, including Indonesia's various militia factions, Iraq's tribal and "awakening, and " and Iran's Revolutionary Guard and Basij corps, the book shows why and how states co-opt these groups, turning former rebels into state-sponsored militias. Building on an historical and comparative empirical approach that emphasizes decolonization, revolution, and international threat, the author offers a new set of policy prescriptions for addressing this escalating international crisis-with particular attention to strategies for mitigating the impact of this devolution of violence on the internal and international stability of states.