Modern Insurgencies and Counterinsurgencies: A Global History

275 Pages·2022·5.16 MB·English

by  Kaushik Roy

MODERN INSURGENCIES AND
COUNTERINSURGENCIES
This book provides a historical study of the theory and praxis of modern insur-
gencies and counterinsurgencies (COIN).
ModernInsurgenciesandCounterinsurgencies:AGlobalHistoryshowsthattheinsurgents
canwageavarietyofconflicts:attimesconventionalwarwhichliesatthehighendof
theirspectrum, andterrorism which is locatedat the lowest end of their scale.When
insurgencies reach a certain critical threshold, the insurgents shift their strategy from
guerrilla (irregular) war to conventional (regular) war, and at that point the level of
conflict escalates to the level of civil war. When the insurgents face intense state
repression, they revert to terrorist activities. When the insurgents wage guerrilla war,
theycanbecalledguerrillas.Thevarietyofwarsconductedbytheinsurgentsistermed
as unconventional war. This volume demonstrates that the insurgents in the modern
worldhavebeenmotivatedbyatrinity:greed,grievancesandideology.KaushikRoy
traces the origin of modern insurgencies and COIN from the sixteenth century by
focusingonregionsoutsideWesternEurasia.Healsotouchesonthetwininterrelated
phenomena of modern insurgencies and COIN metastasising into something new at
thebeginningoftheInformationRevolutionattheendofthetwentiethcentury.
This volume will be of interest to researchers and research students of history,
BritishEmpire, imperial studies, Asian studies, security studies, strategic studies, and
war and conflict studies.
Kaushik Roy is Guru Nanak Professor in the Department of History, Jadavpur
University,Kolkata.HeisalsoassociatedwithPeaceResearchInstituteOslo(PRIO),
NorwayasaGlobalFellow.RoyspecialisesinmilitaryhistoryofSouthAsia.
WARFARE AND HISTORY
General Editor: Jeremy Black
War in the Modern World
Jeremy Black
Israel’s Wars
A History since 1947, 4th edition
Ahron Bregman
The Spanish Civil War
A Military History
Charles J. Esdaile
Military Thought of Asia
From the Bronze Age to the Information Age
Kaushik Roy
The First World Empire
Portugal, War and Military Revolution
Edited by Hélder Carvalhal, André Murteira and Roger Lee de Jesus
Modern Insurgencies and Counterinsurgencies
A Global History
Kaushik Roy
For more information, or to place orders visit Routledge, Warfare and History
https://www.routledge.com/Warfare-and-History/book-series/SE0417
MODERN
INSURGENCIES AND
COUNTERINSURGENCIES
A Global History
Kaushik Roy
Coverimage:©RichardEllis/AlamyStockPhoto
Firstpublished2023
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ISBN:978-1-032-00500-3(pbk)
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DOI:10.4324/9781003174455
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CONTENTS
Preface and Acknowledgements vi
List of Abbreviations viii
Glossary xii
Introduction 1
1 From Protomodern Insurgencies to Modern Insurgencies and
COIN 10
2 Insurgencies and Counterinsurgencies in the European Empires 43
3 American Imperialism and Armed Rebels 81
4 Modern Insurgencies and COIN in the Asian Empires 98
5 Neo-Imperialism, Insurgencies and Counterinsurgencies 120
6 Nation States, Insurgencies and Counterinsurgencies in Asia 153
7 Insurgent Tribes and COIN in Africa 174
8 Nation States, Criminals and Insurgents of Latin America 193
9 Postmodern Insurgencies and Counterinsurgencies 214
Conclusion 236
Index 247
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Do we really need another book on insurgencies and counterinsurgencies (COIN)?
The market seems to be flooded with volumes both slim and fat which address the
questions of armed rebels and state repression. Modern Insurgencies and Counter-
insurgencies:AGlobalHistorynotonlyoffersasynthesisoftherecentresearchesbutalso
uses new empirical data and conceptually provides food for thought. The present
volumesupplementsIanBeckett’sModernInsurgenciesandCounter-Insurgencies:Guerrillas
and their Opponents since 1750 (2001, reprint, London/New York: Routledge, 2005),
which is a thorough but mostly Eurocentric account of modern insurgencies and
COIN till the end of the twentieth century. Jeremy Black’s Insurgency and Counter-
insurgency:A GlobalHistory(Lanham,Maryland:Rowman&Littlefield, 2016)situates
theemergenceofmoderninsurgencyandCOINonalongueduréeapproach.Further,
Black,inthisandhisotherworks,pointstothevarietyofintrastateconflictsthatchar-
acterisedworld history and also the importance of the regionsbeyond Europe. These
twotrendsarefurtherdevelopedinmypresentwork.Therearenumerousgoodworks
dealingwithalimitedtimeperiodoraparticularcountry,mostlytheWesterncountries
likeBritainandtheUnitedStatesduringthenineteenthandtwentiethcenturies.Isee
no reason why in this present monograph the American war in Afghanistan and Iraq
will get undue priority. My volume deals with the last 500 years of world history.
Further, I have taken care to include in this monograph insurgencies and counter-
insurgencies in the non-Western countries. Lack of space and inadequate expertise
prevent me from addressing the psychological aspects of irregular warfare. Further, I
havejusttouchedonthegenderissuewithoutgoingintogreatdetail.
This volume will attract researchers and research students (both undergraduate
and postgraduate levels) of history (early modern and modern periods), British
Empire,imperialstudies,AsianStudies,securitystudies,strategicstudies,smallwars,
war and conflict studies as well as the intelligent lay readers. Policy makers as well
asmilitaryofficersmightalsofindsomethingvaluableandinsightfulinthisvolume.
PrefaceandAcknowledgements vii
Twopersonsdeservespecialcreditforthegenesisofthisvolume.ProfessorScott
Gates of PRIO who for more than a decade advised and mentored me to con-
ceptualise the conflicts below the level of conventional war. Then there is Pro-
fessor Jeremy Black who always pointed out the importance of analysing the
evolutionofwarfareandstatethroughouthistoryintheregionsbeyondthe‘West.’
I have benefitted a lot from the insights and advice of Scott and Jeremy. It is
generous of Jeremy to ask me to write a book on modern insurgencies and coun-
terinsurgencies for his Warfare and History series. Special thanks to Ms Eve Setch
for her constant encouragement and cooperation. Among my research scholars Ms
Sohini Mitra and Mr Aryama Ghosh deserve credit for helping me among other
things to find several sources concerned with this volume. I will thank ‘her’ for
reasonssheunderstands. Ironically,theCovid-19 crisis has helped me to sitindoors
and concentrate on the volume.
Kaushik Roy
Kolkata 2022
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AFV Armoured Fighting Vehicle
AI Artificial Intelligence
ANA Afghan National Army
ANC African National Congress
ANSF Afghan National Security Forces
APC Armoured Personnel Carrier
ARSA Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army
ARVN Army of the Republic of Vietnam/Ground force of South
Vietnam
ASG Abu Sayyaf Group
AUC United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
BIAF Bangsamoro Islamic Army
CANU Caprivian African National Union
CCP Chinese Communist Party or Communist Party of China
CFS Congo Free State
CIA Central Intelligence Agency of the United States
COIN Counterinsurgency
CPP Communist Party of the Philippines
CPSU Communist Party of Soviet Union
CT Counterterrorism
DRA Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
DTOs Drug-trafficking organisations
ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States
EGP Guerrilla Army of the Poor of Guatemala
EIC British East India Company
ELF Eritrean Liberation Front
ELN National Liberation Army of Colombia
ListofAbbreviations ix
EOKA The National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters
EPLF Eritrean People’s Liberation Front
EPRDF Eritrean People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front
EPRP Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party
EZLN Zapatista National Liberation Army of Mexico
FAR Rwandan Army
FARC Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
FATA Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan
FLN National Liberation Front of Algeria
FMLN Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front of El Salvador
FNLA National Front for the Liberation of Angola
Fronasa Front for National Salvation of Uganda
GAM Free Aceh Movement in Indonesia
GDP Gross domestic product
GLONASS Russia’s Global Satellite Navigation System
GNA Greek National Army
GWOT America’s Global War on Terror
HERF High-energy radio frequency guns
HMB Hukbong Magpalayang Bayan
HSM Holy Spirit Movement of Uganda
HSMF Holy Spirit Mobile Force
Huk Hukbong Magpalayang Bayan (HMB)/Hukbalahap
HUMINT Human intelligence
ICP Indochinese Communist Party
IDF Israeli Defence Force
IED Improvised Explosive Device
IFP Inkatha Freedom Party
IJA Imperial Japanese Army
IJN Imperial Japanese Navy
INA Indian National Army (Japanese supported)
IPKF Indian Peacekeeping Force in Sri Lanka
IRA Irish Republican Army
ISAF International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan
ISC Independent State of Croatia
ISI Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan
ISIS Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
IU United Left (left-wing coalition of Peru)
JIA Jamiat I Islami
JKLF Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front
KIA Kachin Independence Army
KKE Greek Communist Party
KMT Kuomintang, Nationalist Party of China
KNLA Karen National Liberation Army
KP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan