Although rebel groups are players on the international stage, little is known about their financial strategies at this scale. Existing research suggests that rebels succeed in cross-border trade by using informal networks that evade state authority. Yet rebels face a critical challenge: they operate in a normative environment that values state recognition and penalizes their illegitimate status. New evidence reveals that rebels can overcome this barrier and better connect to global economies not by evading the state but by infiltrating its institutions. Drawing on unprecedented data—the internal records of armed groups and their trading partners—I examine how rebels use state agencies in conflict zones to manufacture a legal cover for wartime trade. By using state agencies to provide false certification, rebels can place the stamp of state on their trade deals. This strategy of legal appropriation is a fundamentally different model of how conflict markets skirt sanctions and connect to global buyers. I develop a framework for how this strategy works that traces how international sovereignty norms and sanctions regimes create incentives for rebels, firms, and bureaucrats to coordinate around this legal veneer across the supply chain. The framework and evidence contribute theoretical and policy understandings for rebel governance, state building and fragmentation, and illicit global markets.

中文翻译：

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隐藏冲突市场：叛乱分子和企业如何利用国家机构清洗战时贸易

尽管反叛组织是国际舞台上的参与者，但对其如此规模的财务战略知之甚少。现有研究表明，叛乱分子利用逃避国家权威的非正式网络在跨境贸易中取得成功。然而，叛军面临着严峻的挑战：他们在一个重视国家承认并惩罚他们的非法地位的规范环境中运作。新的证据表明，叛乱分子可以克服这一障碍，更好地与全球经济联系，而不是逃避国家，而是渗透其机构。利用前所未有的数据——武装团体及其贸易伙伴的内部记录——我研究了叛军如何利用冲突地区的国家机构为战时贸易制造合法掩护。通过利用国家机构提供虚假证明，叛乱分子可以在他们的贸易协议上盖上国家的印记。这种合法拨款策略是冲突市场如何绕过制裁并与全球买家联系的一种根本不同的模式。我为这一战略的运作方式制定了一个框架，该框架追溯了国际主权规范和制裁制度如何激励叛乱分子、公司和官僚在整个供应链中围绕这一法律表面进行协调。该框架和证据有助于对反叛治理、国家建设和分裂以及非法全球市场的理论和政策理解。我为这一战略的运作方式制定了一个框架，该框架追溯了国际主权规范和制裁制度如何激励叛乱分子、公司和官僚在整个供应链中围绕这一法律表面进行协调。该框架和证据有助于对反叛治理、国家建设和分裂以及非法全球市场的理论和政策理解。我为这一战略的运作方式制定了一个框架，该框架追溯了国际主权规范和制裁制度如何激励叛乱分子、公司和官僚在整个供应链中围绕这一法律表面进行协调。该框架和证据有助于对反叛治理、国家建设和分裂以及非法全球市场的理论和政策理解。