Perang saudara

Perang saudara ialah perang antara dua kumpulan teratur dalam satu negara. Perang ini kebanyakannya disebabkan oleh pergolakan politik. Matlamat satu pihak adalah bagi mengambil alih kuasa negara walaupun wilayah, bagi mencapai kemerdekaan sesuatu wilayah, atau bagi menukar polisi kerajaan.James Fearon, "Iraq's Civil War"  in Foreign Affairs, Mac/April 2007. Untuk perbincangan lanjut mengenai pengelasan perang saudara, lihat bahagian "Takrifan". Ia merupakan konflik amat ganas, sering kali membabitkan tentera tetap, yang dikekalkan, disusun dan berskala besar. Perang saudara seringkali menghasilkan jumlah besar korban dan memakan sejumlah besar sumber.Ann Hironaka, Neverending Wars: The International Community, Weak States, and the Perpetuation of Civil War, Harvard University Press: Cambridge, Mass., 2005, m/s. 3, ISBN 0-674-01532-0

Perang saudara sejak berakhirnya Perang Dunia Kedua telah berlangsung secara puratanya selama empat tahun lebih sedikit, peningkatan dramatik dari purata setahun setengah pada tempoh 1900-1944. 
 Rujukan 

 Bibliografi 
 Ali, Taisier Mohamed Ahmed and Robert O. Matthews, eds. Civil Wars in Africa: roots and resolution (1999), 322 pages
 Mats Berdal and David M. Malone, Greed and Grievance: Economic Agendas in Civil Wars (Lynne Rienner, 2000). 
 Paul Collier, Breaking the Conflict Trap: civil war and development policy World Bank (2003) - 320 pages
 Stathis Kalyvas, "'New' and 'Old' Civil Wars: A Valid Distinction?" World Politics 54, no. 1 (2001): 99-118.
 David Lake and Donald Rothchild, eds. The International Spread of Ethnic Conflict: Fear, Diffusion, and Escalation (Princeton University Press, 1996).
 Roy Licklider, "The Consequences of Negotiated Settlements in Civil Wars, 1945--1993," American Political Science Review 89, no. 3 (summer 1995): pp 681–690. 
 Andrew Mack, "Civil War: Academic Research and the Policy Community," Journal of Peace Research 39, no. 5 (2002): pp. 515–525.
 David T. Mason and Patrick 3. Fett, "How Civil Wars End: A Rational Choice Approach," Journal of Conflict Resolution 40, no. 4 (fall 1996): 546-568. 
 Patrick M. Regan. Civil Wars and Foreign Powers: Outside Intervention in Intrastate Conflict (2000) 172 pages
 Stephen John et al., eds. Ending Civil Wars: The Implementation of Peace Agreements (2002), 729 pages
 Monica Duffy Toft, The Geography of Ethnic Violence: Identity, Interests, and the Indivisibility of Territory (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003). ISBN 0-691-12383-7.
 Barbara F. Walter, Committing to Peace: The Successful Settlement of Civil Wars (Princeton University Press, 2002), 
 Elisabeth Jean Wood; "Civil Wars: What We Don't Know," Global Governance, Vol. 9, 2003 pp 247+ online version

 Pautan luar 

 Map of current conflicts 
 Royal Air Force Doctrine - The Nature of War and Armed Conflict
 Secular Cycles and Millennial Trends
 "What makes a civil war?", BBC News, 20 April 2006