[COW] Non-State War Data (v. 4.0)

By /

“Previously, the Correlates of War (COW) Project has examined only wars that involved the government of a member of the interstate system (a state) in one form or another. The inclusion of non-state wars in the data presented here represents an attempt to broaden our understanding of war by including wars between or among non-state entities. Such entities include governments of other types of geopolitical units (GPUs), such as dependencies or non-state autonomous entities, that do not meet the criteria of system membership. They also might involve nonterritorial entities (NTEs) or non-state armed groups (NSAs) that have no defined territorial base. From a state-centric theoretical perspective, wars between or among non-state actors fall into four general categories” (codebook, p. 1)

Non-StateWars_Codebook

I/ Conflict variable
I/1/ Unit of conflict

Event (< 0 or 1 death)Conflict (< 25 deaths)War (< 100 deaths)Episode (< 500 deaths)
∅∅X∅
“Thus non-state wars involve combat between two or more non-state armed groups that are organized for combat, are capable of effective resistance, and commit a minimum of 100 troops to the war or suffer 25 battle-related deaths.” (codebook, p. 2)

I/2/ Conflict domain

State-based conflictNon-state conflictOne-sided violenceTO BE DETERMINED
∅X∅∅
“The remaining two classifications, wars between or among non-state entities that take place in non-state territory (war type 8, of which we have sixty-one) and wars between NSAs that take place across state borders (war type 9, of which we have identified one), are included in the Non-State War dataset presented here.” (codebook, p. 1)

II/ Time variable
II/1/ Unit of time

DayYear
X∅
“StartDay–
the day on which sustained combat began: -9 is used when a specific day is as
yet unknown” (codebook, p. 3)

II/2/ Time domain

Time domain
1818 – 03/2005

(Non-StateWarData_v4.0.csv, 16/08/2022)

III/ Space variable
III/1/ Unit of space

CoordinatesCountryRegionTO BE DETERMINED
∅∅X∅
“WhereFought –
Region where combat occurred. Values are:
1 = W. Hemisphere
2 = Europe
4 = Africa
6 = Middle East
7 = Asia
9 = Oceania” (codebook, p. 2)

III/2/ Space domain

GlobalMediterranean Sea and SahelTO BE DETERMINED
X∅∅
“WhereFought –
Region where combat occurred. Values are:
1 = W. Hemisphere
2 = Europe
4 = Africa
6 = Middle East
7 = Asia
9 = Oceania” (codebook, p. 2)

IV/ Data structure
IV/1/ Unit of observation

Unit of conflict (UC)UC-yearUC-actorCountry-year
∅∅∅∅
Actor-yearDyad-yearOTHERTO BE DETERMINED
∅∅∅X

(Non-StateWarData_v4.0.csv, 16/08/2022)

IV/2/ Number of observations

Number of observations
62
“The data-set presented here includes the sixty-two non-state wars that have been identified to date.” (codebook, p. 2)

V/ All variables

Conflict nameConflict typeIntensity
XX∅
OutcomeTimeSpace
XXX
ActorType of actorDyad
XX∅

CoalitionDeathsNon-conflit variables
XX∅
“WarName –
the name given to the war” (codebook, p. 2)
“WarType –
8 = wars between or among non-state entities that take place in non-state territory: 9 = wars between NSAs that take place across state borders” (p. 2)
“Outcome: coded as:
1 – Side A wins
2 – Side B wins
3 – Compromise
4 – The war was transformed into another type of war
5 – The war is ongoing as of 12/31/2007
6 – Stalemate
7 – Conflict continues at below war level” (codebook, p. 3)
“StartDay–
the day on which sustained combat began: -9 is used when a specific day is as yet unknown” (codebook, p. 2)
“WhereFought –
Region where combat occurred. Values are:
1 = W. Hemisphere
2 = Europe
4 = Africa
6 = Middle East
7 = Asia
9 = Oceania” (p. 2)
“SideA1 –
the first Non-State Armed group (NSA) fighting on one side (Side A) of the war” (codebook, p. 2)
“SideA2 –
the second Non-State Armed group (NSA) fighting on one side (Side A) of the war: -8=Not Applicable (no second party on this side)” (codebook, p. 2)
“Initiator –
the side, which began combat: A or B” (p. 3)
“SideADeaths –
the battle-related combatant fatalities suffered by Side A, -9= data unknown” (codebook, p. 3)

VI/ Transparency
VI/1/ Sources

Intergovernmental organizationsGovernmental organizationsNon-governmental organizations
∅∅∅
Research organizationsPress mediaSocial media
∅∅∅
Other databasesOTHERTO BE DETERMINED
∅∅X

VI/2/ Codebook

DateVersion
TO BE DETERMINED4.0
“Non-state Wars (Version 4.0): Definitions and Variables by Meredith Reid Sarkees” (codebook, p. 1)

Non-StateWars_Codebook-1

VII/ Update
VII/1/ Current version

DateVersion
30/06/20104.0
“The COW Project introduced COW Wars v4.0, 1816-2007 in 2010. The paper “The COW Typology of War: Defining and Categorizing Wars (Version 4 of the Data)” by Meredith Reid Sarkees gives an overview of the COW war typology, the descriptions of the basic variables, coding rules and some of the changes since “Resort to Arms.” In March 2010, the New COW War List was released. On June 30, 2010, the Non-State War Data (v4.0) became available. On October 28, 2010, the Intra-State War Data (v4.0) was released and on April 6, 2020 the Intra-State War Data (v5.1) became available online. On March 1, 2011, the Inter-State War Data (v4.0) became available online. Finally, we released the Extra-State War Data (v4.0) on December 8, 2011.” (https://correlatesofwar.org/data-sets/cow-war/, 01/10/2023)

VII/2/ Regularly updated ?

Real-timeMonthQuarterAnnually
∅∅∅∅
YES, PERIOD TO BE DETERMINEDTO BE DETERMINED
∅X

VIII/ Access
VIII/1/ Registration ?

YESNOTO BE DETERMINED
∅X∅

VIII/2/ Formats

.XLS/.XLSX.CSV.DTA (STATA).RDTA
∅X∅∅

(https://correlatesofwar.org/data-sets/cow-war/, 01/10/2023)

VIII/3/ API ?

YESNOTO BE DETERMINED
∅∅X