Warlord

Warlords are individuals who exercise military, economic, and political control over a region, often one without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over local armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of history, albeit in a variety of different capacities within the political, economic, and social structure of states or ungoverned territories. The term is often applied in the context of China around the end of the Qing dynasty, especially during the Warlord Era. The term may also be used for a supreme military leader.^[1]

^ The Merriam Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2000) definition is: 1: a supreme military leader; 2: a military commander exercising civil power seized or maintained by force usually purely from self-interest and usually over a limited region with or without recognition of a central government, sometimes having effective control over the central government or administration, and sometimes obtaining de facto or de jure recognition of foreign powers."