to directly target the political body in charge. Regular/conventional warfare is focused on defeating the enemy’s military forces to achieve the stated political ends, while irregular warfare uses violence, psychological operations, subversion, sabotage, political agitation, etc. We know all war is an extension of politics, but not all war is political warfare as I define it.

However, if a Nation State provides support to an insurgency, they could very well be the stronger military opponent in a developing nation. I need to think about this one and cite potential examples, or case histories. I think this is generally true, but I also think an opponent may decide that using insurgency as a strategy may just be the preferred strategy. I think you get away from the focus on insurgency as a strategy when part of the definition defines the insurgent as a weak organization. A strategy of insurgency is most often used by a non-state organization against a state but may also be used by a non-state organization against a transnational power structure (e.g. It involves building alliances or partnerships to augment the strength of the weak organization, directly augmenting the strength of the weak organization, and diminishing the strength of the state or other dominant organization. the conventional military one) and emphasizing ones where its inferiority is less (e.g. A strategy of insurgency involves diminishing the importance of realms of conflict or battlespaces where the weak organization is inferior (e.g. This normally means that the weak organization assumes it has superior will and coherence. An organization using insurgency assumes that postponing resolution will lead to a shift in the power balance in its favor. The weak organization seeks to postpone resolution of the conflict while it adjusts the power balance in its favor. The strategy uses or threatens the use of violence. The weak organization may seek specific political objectives or a total transformation of the power structure. Insurgency is a strategy used by a weak organization against a power structure and the organizations which dominate it.

I realize it's a really long and complicated definition, but it's the best I can do right now. I think this is important because it avoids debates I am never able to understand like 'Was the Iraq conflict an insurgency or a civil war?' and 'Is Hamas an insurgency?'Īnyhow, I'm trying to fine-tune and refine the definition from this perspective for a book chapter I'm working on. As some of you may know, I have long viewed insurgency as a strategy, not a particular conflict or type of movement.

Insurgency definition