Non-state Actors in the International System: How Do We Recognize the Bad Guys?

Abstract
Non-state actors represent equal partners, viable competitors, and/or serious enemies in the current international system. Their specific position depends on how their behaviour in the system is perceived by states, international organizations, and civil society. The behaviour itself can be positive or negative. However, a closer look at the field of non-state actors will show that it is not easy to identify the good and bad guys of the system between them. It is due fact, that we are not living in a black-and-white world, or a black-and-white international system. For this reason, this study has the ambition to present a new approach to identifying bad guys, i.e., negative non-state actors, in the international system.
Keywords
non-state actor, non-state armed actor, negativity, negative action, violation, international system
Author Biography
Miroslav Plundrich
Miroslav Plundrich is a PhD candidate in International Relations, focusing on conflict management, and a teaching fellow at the Department of Politics and International Relations of University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. In his PhD thesis, he focuses on how to recognize negative non-state actors in the international system. Besides, he is also interested in hybrid warfare and the foreign policies of the US and the UK.