7.2 Rebel Groups and Insurgencies in International Conflicts

Rebel groups and insurgencies play a crucial role in international conflicts. These non-state actors challenge government authority through armed struggle, often employing guerrilla tactics. They emerge from various contexts, including civil wars, ethnic tensions, and state weakness.

External involvement further complicates insurgencies. Governments employ counterinsurgency strategies, while foreign powers may engage in proxy warfare. Understanding these dynamics is key to grasping the complex landscape of modern conflicts and the diverse actors involved.

Types of Rebel Groups and Insurgencies

Insurgency and Rebel Groups

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• Insurgency refers to an organized, armed political struggle aimed at overthrowing a constituted government or gaining control over a territory through subversion and armed conflict
• Rebel groups are armed opposition groups that use violence against the state to achieve political goals such as regime change, policy change, or territorial control
• Insurgencies and rebel groups often operate in weak or failed states where the government lacks legitimacy or capacity to maintain control over its territory (Afghanistan, Somalia)
• Insurgencies can be motivated by various factors including ideology, ethnicity, religion, or socio-economic grievances (Maoists in Nepal, Islamists in Mali)

Guerrilla Warfare Tactics

• Guerrilla warfare is a type of asymmetric warfare in which small groups of combatants use mobile military tactics like ambushes, sabotage, raids, and hit-and-run attacks against a larger, less mobile formal army
• Guerrilla fighters often blend into the civilian population for concealment and rely on local support for supplies and intelligence gathering (Viet Cong in Vietnam War)
• Insurgencies frequently employ guerrilla warfare as a means to wear down the state's military forces and undermine its control over territory
• Guerrilla tactics aim to protract the conflict, gradually build up support, and force the state to overextend its resources trying to maintain control (FARC in Colombia)

Separatist and Secessionist Movements

• Separatist movements seek to gain greater autonomy or independence for a particular ethnic, religious, or regional group within an existing state
• Secessionist insurgencies fight to fully break away and establish a new independent state, redraw borders along ethnic/religious lines, or join another state (Kurds in Iraq, Tamils in Sri Lanka)
• Separatist and secessionist conflicts are often characterized by long-running, intractable violence with deep historical roots and emotional narratives of oppression and injustice
• Governments almost always reject separatist demands as threats to state sovereignty and territorial integrity, making negotiated settlements very difficult (Chechnya in Russia, Kashmir in India)

Causes and Contexts of Insurgencies

Civil Wars and State Weakness

• Civil wars arise from the fragmentation of states along ethnic, religious, or ideological lines, creating opportunities for rebel groups to challenge the government's authority
• Insurgencies are more likely to emerge in weak or failed states that lack the capacity to provide basic services, security, and rule of law throughout their territory (Libya after Gaddafi)
• Collapse of state institutions creates power vacuums that insurgent groups exploit to seize territory and gain popular support as alternative providers of governance (Taliban in Afghanistan)
• Grievances against exclusionary, repressive, or incompetent governments fuel popular support for rebel movements that champion themselves as agents of social change (Syrian uprising against Assad)

Ethnic and Religious Conflicts

• Ethnic conflicts arise when ethnic groups perceive themselves as oppressed, marginalized or threatened by state policies or rival groups, leading to insurgencies to defend their identity and rights
• Religious extremism can breed insurgency when fundamentalist groups seek to impose their beliefs on society and resist secular authority (Al-Shabaab in Somalia, Boko Haram in Nigeria)
• Ethnic and religious insurgencies are fueled by deep-seated fears and animosities, making them less amenable to compromise than ideological conflicts
• Ethnic insurgencies often exploit transnational kinship ties for funding, safe havens and recruitment, complicating regional security (Kurds across Turkey, Syria, Iraq)

Warlordism and Criminality

• Warlords are military strongmen who control territory locally through a combination of force and patronage, often operating outside state authority
• Warlordism thrives in areas of weak governance where warlords can monopolize the use of force and exploit local resources and populations (Afghanistan after Soviet withdrawal)
• Warlord militias often lack a clear political agenda beyond preserving their local power and resisting state encroachment on their territory
• Criminal insurgencies are primarily motivated by profit through illegal activities like drug trafficking, exploiting the lack of rule of law (Mexico's drug cartels, FARC in Colombia)

External Involvement in Insurgencies

Counterinsurgency Strategies

• Counterinsurgency (COIN) refers to comprehensive political-military efforts by governments to simultaneously defeat insurgent forces and address the root causes driving popular support for insurgency
• COIN doctrine emphasizes protecting the population, strengthening legitimate governance, and winning hearts and minds through social and economic development (US Surge in Iraq 2007)
• Effective COIN requires careful calibration of the appropriate balance between military force, political reforms, and social policies to undercut rebels without alienating the population
• External powers often provide COIN assistance to threatened governments in the form of military aid, training, advisors and development assistance (US support for Colombia against FARC)

Proxy Warfare and Internationalized Insurgencies

• Proxy wars occur when external powers wage war indirectly by supporting insurgent forces or governments as their surrogates, rather than fighting each other directly
• External support for rebel proxies can include funding, weapons, training, sanctuary and diplomatic backing (US support for Mujahideen in Afghanistan in 1980s)
• Internationalized civil wars are insurgencies that are deeply enmeshed with regional and global rivalries, with multiple external powers backing different sides (Syrian Civil War)
• Proxy warfare exacerbates and prolongs local conflicts by enabling rebels to fight beyond their own means and making conflicts harder to resolve through domestic bargaining (Vietnam received Soviet and Chinese backing)