Examine whether power imbalance and ethnicity have an impact on the strategic behaviour of an alliance partner witin an alliance, namely: whether the fighting effort that the partner makes in the alliance increases or decreases when taking into account these variables.

Alliances: power imbalances and ethnicity

1) The power imbalance between allies within an alliance. This part should show, based on literature, that when the power imbalance between the participants in an alliance is high (for ex: one participant is much lager and has more power), the alliance works better: a leader-follower structure. It concerns alliances in a war or political context (between states, rebel groups, war partners…). This means, for example, that when one of the partners has a lot more power than the other partners, the alliance works better. On the other hand; when power is more equally distributed in the alliance, more problems arise and the alliance works less well. This first part should be approx. 1500 words long.

2) The second part is about ethnicity whitin an alliance. This part should show that when alliance partners have the same ethnicity, the level of trust is higher and the alliance works better. When alliance partners don’t have the same ethnicity the alliance works less well. This part should (if possible) be more focused on African ethnicities of rebel groups for example in the Congo War. The second part should also be approx. 1500 words long.

Examine whether power imbalance and ethnicity have an impact on the strategic behaviour of an alliance partner witin an alliance, namely: whether the fighting effort that the partner makes in the alliance increases or decreases when taking into account these variables.