Capturing Group Alignments: Introducing the Government and Armed Actors Relations Dataset (GAARD)

Recent research has generated important new insights into the existence, behavior, and violent consequences of armed actors in civil wars. However, the lack of suitable information on actor relationships with the state means that studies have been forced to assume that armed groups are either pro-government or anti-government, and remain that way for the length of their existence. Both assumptions severely limit our understanding of the armed actors themselves, as well as the violent dynamics they produce. This article introduces the Government and Armed Actors Relations Dataset (GAARD), which provides detailed information on all major armed groups and their fluctuating alignment with the state between 1989 and 2007. GAARD identifies when armed groups fight with or against the government, and when they lack relationships with the government altogether. It further provides information on all changes in group alignments and documents when and how these occurred. We demonstrate that more than 25\% of armed groups changed their alignments and showcase how this allows researchers to pursue original research on the drivers, dynamics, and outcomes of civil conflicts.

过往研究已对内战中武装行为体的存在形态、行动特征及其暴力后果产生了重要新认知。然而，由于缺乏关于行为体与国家间关系的有效信息，现有研究不得不做出预设：武装团体要么始终亲政府，要么始终反政府，且在其存续期间始终保持这一立场。这两类预设极大限制了学界对武装行为体本身及其引发的暴力动态的认知。本文介绍了政府与武装行为体关系数据集（Government and Armed Actors Relations Dataset, GAARD），该数据集涵盖1989年至2007年间所有主要武装团体及其与国家间不断变化的同盟关系的详细信息。GAARD可识别武装团体与政府合作、对抗，以及完全无关联的时段；此外，数据集还记录了武装团体同盟关系的所有变更节点，并详述了变更发生的时间与具体方式。本文研究发现，超过25%的武装团体曾变更其同盟立场，并展示了该数据集如何助力学界围绕内战的驱动因素、暴力动态与冲突结局开展原创性研究。