Killing Civilians in Civil War: The Rationale of Indiscriminate Violence

Conventional wisdom tells us that targeting civilians in civil wars makes little sense as a combat strategy. Yet, the indiscriminate violence continues. Why? To tackle this vexing question, Jürgen Brandsch looks closely at the on-the-ground impact of indiscriminate violence—and what he finds shows that there often is, in fact, a method to the madness. Making the provocative argument that slaughtering innocent civilians may be rational behavior on the part of the perpetrators, Brandsch provides an important piece in the puzzle of how to understand, and ultimately prevent, such atrocities.