INSURGENT MOVEMENTS: ROLE, CAPABILITIES AND RESPONSES OF STATES

Abstract

This article addresses the problems related to the correct identification of the insurgency as a phenomenon and how the idea of the threat determines the design and responses of the security and defense public policies. To do this, we first outline a list of those factors that act as leverage for a given insurgent, rebel or revolutionary movement, in their emerging stage, to perform a successful transition to a true insurgency, capable of subverting the established political order. Then the role exercised by governments in managing threats and insurgencies consolidation is analyzed, to conclude exposing some key ideas and contemporary debates regarding the implementation of those strategies that seek to counteract them.