No / The title asks, but inside, these historians and political scientists from Africa and Europe assert that all across Africa the problems, challenges, and implications posed by civil militias¿Sudan's Janjaweed currently most in the news¿have elevated them into the continent's intractable security menace. Between discussions of a theoretical construction of the militias as a social phenomenon, and of international experiences and implications, they cite examples. Among these the Kamajor in Sierra Leone, a comparison of Nigeria and Indonesia, threats to national and human security in West Africa, Darfur of course, anti-gang militias in Cameroon, and Uganda since 1986. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The purpose of this thesis is to study under what conditions armed groups practice different repertoires of sexual violence, by studying ideology’s influence on behaviour. This will be explored through a structured focused comparison of three armed groups active in the conflict in Darfur 2003-2006, the Janjaweed, Sudan’s Liberation Army/Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement. The theory suggest that a strong implemented ideology will lead to control over behaviour and values, hence sexual violence will be practice in line with organizational objectives and ideas, either instrumental or not practiced at all. Consequently, a weak ideological framework will lead to variation in socialization processes and an opportunistic repertoire.  The findings correlate as expected by the hypothesis, while data constraints call for caution. The results suggests a broadening of the theoretical framework as well as further studies on the suggested causal mechanism, combatant socialization, to examine how, and under what circumstances, behaviours are spread as a social practice among combatants.