Publisher's Synopsis
The wave of civil wars, terror attacks, and insurgencies over the last half century has redefined our nation of protracted conflicts. The result of multiyer project, the book assembles the findings of scholars who conducted extensive field research with rebel groups and governments. This comparative analysis documents the aim of long-standing insurgent groups such as the Tamil Tigers, the IRA, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, Basque Country and Liberty, and the People's Liberation Army of the Communist Party of Nepal, as well as the more recently visible Hizballah and Hamas. These groups represent varying kinds of insurgency. Several strive for national liberation or territory. They are either secessionists who contend with a central government that they regard as hostile, or irredentists who seek to reunify a divided homeland. Others, with rural and peasant bases, emphasize economic inequalities, class struggle, and socialism. At least three known factions are explicitly Islamist, with a religious agenda and a para-military organization.
