External intelligence assistance and the recipient government’s violence against civilians

During a civil war, does external intelligence assistance reduce violence perpetrated by the recipient government against civilians? I contend that intelligence assistance reduces violence against civilians by facilitating identification problems and adopting a “winning-hearts-and-minds strategy,” which enhances the recipient government's legitimacy and intelligence potential. Enhanced intelligence capability solves the recipient government's identification problems. I examined this logic using a dataset on external support and one-sided violence between 1990 and 2008. The empirical findings show that external intelligence assistance reduces the recipient government's violence against civilians.Wakako Maekawa, External intelligence assistance and the recipient government’s violence against civilians, Conflict Management and Peace Science. Copyright © 2022 SAGE Publishing. DOI: 10.1177/07388942221129047