  Abelian theories in three dimensions can have linearly confining phases as a
result of monopole-instantons, as shown, for SU(2) Yang-Mills theory broken to
its abelian subgroup, by Polyakov. In this article the generalization of this
phase for N=2 supersymmetric abelian theories is identified, using a dual
description. Topologically stable BPS-saturated and unsaturated particle and
string solitons play essential roles. A plasma of chiral monopoles of charge 1
and -1 (along with their antichiral conjugates) are required for a stable
confining vacuum. N=2 SU(2) Yang-Mills theory broken to U(1) lacks this phase
because its chiral monopoles all have the same charge, leading to a runaway
instability. The possibility of analogous confining phases of string theory,
and a dual field theoretic model thereof, are briefly discussed.
