Consider the author’s narrative techniques in How Civil Wars Start. What techniques does she employ to frame and tell the narrative about how civil wars start and how to stop them? Are these techniques effective? Why or why not?

What are the differences between democracy, autocracy, and anocracy? Why are these differences significant? What would you do as a leader in an anocracy to avert civil conflict?

Walter returns repeatedly to the breakup of Yugoslavia as a case study. What are the major elements of factionalism that were present in Yugoslavia before civil war erupted? Are there similarities between the US today and the former Yugoslavia? Why or why not?