“It’s Not About the Money”: Rebel Group Participation in the Formal Economy as Credible Commitment

Why do some rebel groups establish capital-intensive formal businesses while continuing to resist integration into the state during civil wars? This article argues that such ventures are primarily established to sustain what I call symbiotic armed orders – relationships in which the state and the rebel group co-exist through simultaneous cooperation and armed competition. Capital-intensive formal businesses demonstrate the rebel group’s credible commitment to the relationship despite ongoing hostilities. Drawing on 12 months of field research on the Thai-Myanmar border, this article compares the RCSS and the KNPP, two active rebel groups in Myanmar, to demonstrate this argument.