As turbulent events – including war, civil war, armed intervention, humanitarian crises and civil unrest – unfold around the globe, the actions of various types of paramilitary organization have attracted considerable attention in academic circles, as well as among the public. Bringing together a wide range of respected authors from a variety of academic backgrounds, this volume builds on a rapidly developing literature on paramilitarism, with a focus on the Balkans, East-Central Europe, and the Caucasus. Chapters cover historical examples and various aspects of paramilitarism, including relationships with the state, legal contexts, conduct towards civilian populations, governance, recruitment, links to organized crime or terrorism, violence, and memory and legacy. Overall, this book aims to reassess the existing body of knowledge, and to offer a new theoretical conceptualization of paramilitarism spanning the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It is the outcome of a research project initiated by the editors and supported by the Balkan History Association.