Rebel leaders control their commanders by providing resources, such as weapons and cash, and by making promises. Both of these incentives depend on external patrons who decide which leaders to support and how much support to provide. External patrons fuel rebellion to achieve their own objectives, and apply both economic and social pressures to keep the rebels’ activities in line with those goals. Through this influence, a patron either strengthens or undermines the rebel leader's ability to control her forces – with consequences for the civilian population.

This chapter examines the motives of external actors that provide support to rebel organizations, focusing on foreign governments, corporations, and diaspora communities. These motivations shape the amount of support provided to the rebel group, as well as the quality of the leader selected to receive the support. The second half of the chapter formalizes the role of external patrons by investigating the interactions between a patron and a rebel leader, based on the model of leader–commander interactions developed in the previous chapter. The main finding is that while some patrons benefit by supporting trustworthy leaders and disciplined groups, other patrons, seeking to direct the group's activities, have an incentive to support lower-quality leaders and withhold resources that could otherwise strengthen control in the group.

THE IMPORTANCE OF EXTERNAL SUPPORT

External support provides critical resources for rebellion and also imposes costs on the rebel group and its leader. External support can undermine the legitimacy of the group among the population, and external patrons may require the group to take actions that conflict with group goals. Whether or not a rebel leader accepts external assistance depends on the patron's goals and requirements, as well as the leader's ability to maintain an insurgency without the patron's support.

Leaders who lack external support rely on their charisma and social networks to attract committed followers who will follow orders even without monetary incentives. Rebel groups may survive for decades without external support, but these insurgencies often remain small scale and gradually fade into obscurity. Scaling up a rebellion requires attracting recruits beyond the core membership and supplying those recruits with weapons and other resources. The resources required for large-scale rebellion – weapons, ammunition, and financing – generally come from external partnerships.