Introducing the Proscription of Armed Actors Dataset

Abstract States and international organizations have become increasingly willing to proscribe armed groups, labelling them terrorists and imposing legal, economic and political sanctions. To enable investigation into terror-listing and its effects, this paper introduces the Proscribed Armed Actors Dataset. The dataset records information on the proscription regimes maintained by 18 governments and multilateral organizations, including the European Union, all the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and several regional powers in the Global South. Covering the 1979–2022 period, it records the proscription of 386 unique groups, including 93 groups listed as armed actors in Uppsala Conflict Data Program/Peace Research Institute Oslo conflict data, with information on listings, targeted groups and imposed sanctions. This paper introduces the dataset, provides descriptive patterns and discusses possible applications. To illustrate the utility of the data, we perform a quantitative analysis of the impact of terrorist designations on conflict intensity in civil wars, showing that both the source and characteristics of proscriptions shape belligerent behaviour.