Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in Modern War

A collection of original works covering all aspects of insurgency and counterinsurgency through a multinational lens, Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in Modern War addresses the need to look beyond the United States and other prominent counterinsurgency actors in the contemporary world. It also reassesses some of the latent and burgeoning insurgent organizations and networks around the globe and suggests alternative approaches to understanding insurgency, counterinsurgency, and conventional and asymmetric warfare as they relate to insurgency and counterinsurgency.

This book makes significant contributions to international and interdisciplinary discussions regarding the seminal features of insurgency and counterinsurgency in modern warfare. It also relates topics with terrorism in the post-9/11 era, including the historical roots of insurgency, radicalism in Europe, and regional radical groups like al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba. It emphasizes how issues around insurgency, counterinsurgency, and terrorism permeate or evolve into particular forms of warfare, military operations, and related governmental activities.

Using a diversified lens of analysis, the chapters illustrate key elements that spawn insurgency such as insurgents? beliefs, motivations, aims, leadership characteristics, recruitment methods, operations planning, and responses to state and non-state efforts to contain insurgency. The book also examines how certain terrorist and insurgent operations can remain in the shadows and become secret wars beneath the growing surface threats they pose to the societies in which they breed activity.

Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in Modern War takes a unique look at a subject that has become widely studied and written about in reaction to modern terrorism and insurgency. It analyzes conditions under which insurgency and counterinsurgency occur from nuanced perspectives that have not previously received full consideration.

Conceptualizing Counterterrorism and Explaining the Terrorism Phenomenon. The Socially Constructed Insurgency: Using Social Movement Theory as a Framework for Analyzing Insurgencies. The Crime-Terror-Insurgency "Nexus": Implications for Global Security. Ideological Motivations of Arab Foreign Fighters as Insurgents and Terrorists: From 1980s Afghanistan to the Syrian Insurgency. Al-Qaeda: Through the Lens of Global Insurgency. The Threat of Terrorism to Critical Infrastructure: TEN-R and the Global Salafi Jihad. The Power to Hurt Indirectly: Deterrence of Violent Nonstate Organizations by Threats of Domestic-Political Costs. Latent Insurgency: In the Threat of Militant Islamist Groups in Indonesia Diminishing? Mali’s Rebels: Making Sense of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad Insurgency. Crossroads: Tracing the Historical Roots of Modern Insurgency in the Caucasus. Lashkar-e-Taiba: Regional Insurgent Group or Emerging International Threat? The Haqqani Network Threat: Keeping Insurgency in the Family. Manchuria—The Cockpit of Insurgent Empire: A Historical Perspective from the Khitan Liao to the People’s Republic of China. From David to Goliath: Chinese Pacification and Counterinsurgency Operations in Modern Wars. The "Father-to-Son" War: Burma’s Karen Nationalist Insurgency. An Assessment of the United Nations Counterterrorism Initiatives: 2001-2015. Insurgencies, Civil Wars, and International Support: Reassessing Evidence of Moral Hazard from the Balkans.

Scott Nicholas Romaniuk is a PhD student in international studies at the University of Trento, Trento, Italy. He has an MRes in political research from the University of Aberdeen, a BA with a double major in history and German language and literature from the University of Alberta, and certificates in terrorism, counterterrorism, and war and peace. His research focuses on asymmetric warfare, counterterrorism, international security, and the use of force. He may be contacted at scott.romaniuk@unitn.it.

Stewart Tristan Webb is the editor of Defence Report London, UK. He holds a BA with honors in political science from Acadia University and an MScEcon in security studies from Aberystwyth University. He specializes in South Asian security issues and has written numerous reports on aspects of Canadian defense policy and planning. He currently resides in Salt Spring Island, Canada, and may be contacted at stewart.tristan.webb@ gmail.com or swebb@defencereport.com.