Warlordism

A warlord is a leader able to exercise military, economic, and political control over a subnational territory within a sovereign state due to his ability to mobilize loyal armed forces. These armed forces, usually considered militias, are loyal to the warlord rather than to the state regime. Warlords have existed throughout much of history, albeit in a variety of different capacities within the political, economic, and social structure of states or ungoverned territories.

The first appearance of the word "warlord" dates to 1856, when used by American philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson in a highly critical essay on the aristocracy in England, "Piracy and war gave place to trade, politics and letters; the war-lord to the law-lord; the privilege was kept, whilst the means of obtaining it were changed." The first non-English usage of warlord appeared in Germany in 1861, with the translation as "Kriegsherr," which was applied to the first Kaiser of Germany, Wilhelm I following his crowning. Early in the 20th century the term was adopted in China as "Jun Fa" to describe the aftermath of the 1911 Wuchang uprising and Xinhai Revolution, when regional chieftains led their private militias to battle the state and competing chieftains for control over territory, launching the period that would come to be known in China as the modern Warlord Era. The term "Jun Fa" is applied retroactively to describe the leaders of regional private armies who, throughout China's history, threatened or used violence to expand their political rule over additional territories, including those who rose to lead and unify kingdoms.

Although warlords were present historically in either pre-modern states or "weak state" societies, and in countries designated "weak states" or "failed states" in modern times, there is a tremendous degree of variance in the political, economic and societal organization, structure and institutions in states where warlordism exists. There is also a divergence of opinion within the field of political science as to what specifically constitutes warlordism, particularly in the context of the historical setting.

There are two major functional distinctions when considering warlords vis-à-vis their relationship with the state. The first is one in which the warlord functions within the political framework through a degree of bargaining with the state regime so the warlord, sometimes individually and sometimes in a coalition with other warlords, is acting with the explicit consent or at least in accord with the regime. This can be viewed as "cooperative warlord politics". The other is one in which the warlord is operating independently of the state and is viewed as a rebel, insurgent or strategic political competitor of the regime. This is commonly viewed as "ungoverned warlordism." Warlords can also fall into a hybrid category, temporarily joining a warlord coalition in collusion with the regime or defecting for political expedience--transitioning from one paradigm to the other based upon strategic interests.

...
Wikipedia