Violence and Order: The February 2016 Cease-fire and the Development of Rebel Governance Institutions in Southern Syria

Abstract

This paper views cease-fires as being multifaceted with the potential for having diverse consequences for rebel governance development. It uses the February 2016 cease-fire for Syria as a lens through which to examine the interplay of order and violence at the national level on the development of local governance institutions in Syria’s southern Dara’a province. It argues that cease-fires do not simply end or freeze hostilities but rather are political instruments that recalibrate complex systems of layered governance.