Publication |
2021
Abstract
Why do some subnational elites enable rebellion against a government without having tangible profits and benefits from it when it may even cost them their political power and economic assets? The argument goes that some rebellions may break out as an unwanted byproduct of subnational elites willing to instrumentalize rebellion as a bargaining chip with the central government to improve their political or economic position. Drawing on Ukraine's Donbas war, a theory of strategic entrapment is introduced, and defined as a process involving the marginalization of subnational elites and the ascent of a principal-driven separatist conflict.