Alongstanding debate in the social sciences concerns whether violence in civil
conflicts targets specific groups or is indiscriminate. Security scholar Stathis
Kalyvas, in his 2006 seminal book “The Logic of Violence in Civil War”, argues
that indiscriminate violence is less likely when actors have high levels of infor-
mation and control. He suggests that indiscriminate violence is often counter-
productive, leading actors to move away from it as conflicts progress. Profes-
sor of public policy Jeremy Weinstein, in his 2007 book “Inside Rebellion: The
Politics of Insurgent Violence”, posits that the level of indiscriminate violence
used by rebel groups is influenced by their initial resource endowments. Rebel
groups that emerge in resource-rich environments tend to commit higher levels
of indiscriminate violence, while those in resource-poor environments are more
selective in their use of violence.