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The Future of Insurgency Pub344
The Future of Insurgency Pub344
Steven Metz
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JOHN W. MOUNTCASTLE
Colonel, U.S. Army
Director, Strategic Studies Institute
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR
STEVEN METZ has been Associate Research Professor of National
Security Affairs at the Strategic Studies Institute since 1993.
Prior to this, he served as Associate Professor of Low Intensity
Conflict and Third World Studies at the Air War College, and
Professor of International Relations and National Security
Affairs at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He
has also taught at several universities and been a consultant to
political organizations and campaigns. Dr. Metz holds a B.A. and
M.A. in international studies from the University of South
Carolina, and a Ph.D. in political science from the Johns Hopkins
University. He is the author of many articles on world politics,
military strategy, and national security policy.
SUMMARY
Insurgency will persist even after the end of the cold war.
But as insurgent strategists recognize the bankruptcy of old
techniques, especially protracted, rural "people's war," they
will innovate. It is vital for those interested in preventing or
controlling insurgency to think creatively, speculate on the new
forms that will emerge, and craft new frames of reference to
serve as the foundation for strategy and doctrine.
Introduction.
Writing in 1970, Richard H. Sanger suggested that the modern
era has experienced seven great waves of revolts from the English
Revolution of 1648-88 to the cyclone of violence that swept the
Third World after World War II.1 Today, this assessment is still
accurate, but incomplete. We now stand on the cusp of the eighth
wave of modern revolt.
The Context.
Insurgency is born, lives, and dies in a specific strategic,
historical, and psychological context. In the broadest sense, its
environment is the Third World. Knowing this is only of limited
help to the analyst. The "Third World" is a monumentally diverse
place. It includes the vast majority of all humans and states,
each unique in a number of ways. This makes generalizations
difficult and dangerous, but not necessarily worthless. There are
common structural, institutional, and psychological features
which combine to form the preconditions for insurgency (although
not necessarily the causes). These include the macro-level
maldistribution of wealth, un- and underemployment, poverty,
anxiety and confusion generated by rapid modernization, the
collapse of traditional social structures, corruption,
factionalization, and inefficiency within the regime, frustration
brought about by unrealistic expectations concerning the
government's capabilities, repression, weak or nonexistent
national identity, and inadequate political mechanisms for
peaceful change.
New Forms.
The tendency toward variegation in insurgency existed even
during the height of the cold war. Marxism simply served as an
artificial homogenizer partially overcoming local peculiarities.
Insurgents usually adopted Marxism because of their need to
attract external support and to construct a common ideological
lexicon for various elements of the insurgent coalition. But
Marxism's importance was always overestimated by opponents of
insurgency, whether the United States or Third World governments.
Although the ideological predilections of a revolutionary
leadership had some utility for determining the overall strategic
significance of the revolt, it was usually not vitally important
for the course of an insurgency itself, and now is wholly
irrelevant.
Regional Patterns.
To this point, I have focused on generalities, on a
macro-level paradigm of the ongoing variegation of insurgency.
Yet it is obvious that insurgency is characterized by
region-specific patterns derived from tradition, history,
culture, and economics. The nature of regimes, their security
forces, and counterinsurgency strategies also varies from region
to region. International relations are also important since the
presence or absence of external sponsors can influence an
insurgency's chance of success. So while all regions of the Third
World will experience both spiritual and commercial insurgency,
the proportions between the two forms will vary as will the
strategic challenges posed by each form.
Conclusions.
The preeminent task of those who would use insurgency as a
roadway to power is mobilization of support. It takes a powerful
incentive for people to place themselves in serious danger,
whether as active participants in an insurgency or passive
supporters. In the modern world, this incentive is often
discontent and frustration born of a failed search for personal
meaning. When large numbers of people define personal meaning
through psychic fulfillment, the outcome may be spiritual
insurgency. When people define personal meaning materially, the
outcome may be commercial insurgency.
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Director
Colonel John W. Mountcastle
Director of Research
Dr. Earl H. Tilford, Jr.
Author
Dr. Steven Metz
Secretaries
Mrs. Shirley E. Martin
Ms. Rita A. Rummel
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Composition
Mr. Daniel B. Barnett