Major powers have become aware of the possibility of “recycling” the militias. Security services are in charge of arming them and assigning combat missions to the state’s proxy.
The British established a local Kenyan militia, the African National Guard, to suppress the Mau Mau uprising of 1952-1960. China has a larger naval fleet than its American counterpart, Western reports say; Beijing relies on naval militias called “Little Blue Men” to carry out specific tasks in the South China Sea.