The Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies: Introducing a New Typology of Violent Actor

Abstract

This research provides a critical assessment of Haiti’s contemporary ‘gang’ crisis through an in-depth analysis of the Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies (G9). It questions if G9 truly is a gang, and if not, what is it? And how might we better understand it? Through an application of the Terrorism and Extremism Matrix (Kelshall & Archutowski, 2019), this research argues that G9 is not, in fact, a gang, and can instead be more accurately understood under a new typology of violent hybrid actors. An assessment of G9’s structure, motivations, objectives, capacity for violence, violence rationale, and group visibility, demonstrates that the actor transcends traditional categorisations as it blends characteristics from gangs, organised crime syndicates, and terrorists to act as a hybrid entity. This research additionally illustrates the significance and implications of this reclassification, and how context-specific policy and law enforcement approaches can enable more effective mitigation and disruption measures.