0 a military leader who controls a country or, more often, an area within a country --
1 a military leader who controls a country or, more frequently, an area within a country, esp. when the central government is not in control --
States obliged, mobilising new-found resources to repress and co-opt regional warlords.
The new government was tolerated, but some of the warlords still controlled certain areas of the capital.
Indeed, for some time the approving authority was located outside the palace and given to the richest warlord.
In the warlord period, natural hardships and the general breakdown of the political order often led to desperate modes of survival.
In these areas, refugee resources are contested by different political actors and power structures, including rebel groups, warlords, or even rogue army factions.
The cumulative result was a steady siphoning of civilian cattle into the byres of individual southern military leaders and warlords.
Even if most of the warlords have been included in the new government, the situation in the city is still unforeseeable.
Young people, hoping to find employment in the local industries, are especially susceptible to the influence of these warlords.
