Political Objectives. Regardless of their true motives for conflict—whether for personal economic gain, a desire for power, or some other more altruistic reason—insurgent political entrepreneurs must identify what they are asking people to put their lives on the line to achieve—the political objective of the conflict. Conflict scholars identify two general types of political objectives: governmental and territorial (Gleditsch et al. 2002). The political goal in governmental conflicts is to make 6 See also Snow and Xxxxxxx (1992). systematic/structural changes to governing institutions and the personnel that hold power. In territorial conflicts, secession or greater autonomy over a region within the country is the political ends the revisionist actor seeks. Categorizing conflicts according to political objectives stems from the long-held view that war is simply an instrument actors use to achieve their political ends. In all forms of war, the “political objective is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and means can never be considered in isolation from their purpose” Clausewitz (1873, 87). The distinct qualities of insurgent conflict relative to more conventional, less asymmetric forms of con- flict, however, complicate this maxim. Galula (1964, 1) helps clarify: “We might say that ‘insurgency is the pursuit of the policy of the party, inside a country, by every means.’ It is not like ordinary war—a ‘continuation of policy by other means’—because an insurgency can start long before an insurgent resorts to the use of force.” The organized use of political violence remains the practical means insurgent leaders use to achieve their political ends. Unfortunately, from a Clausewitzian perspective, insurgent leadership lacks the military means necessary to extract political concessions through conventional strategies and tac- tics. Therefore, while a military contingent remains vital, the necessary means for effective violence is not military personnel and equipment but rather concealment from authorities and acquiescence from the population. Focusing only on the practical means insurgents employ to achieve their political ends does not capture this distinguishing feature of insurgent conflict. Thus, to gain a more complete understanding of insurgent conflict processes, researchers need to focus both on the political ends and the principle ways that insurgent elites use to acquire the necessary means for effective guerrilla warfare—a supportive and/or complaisant noncombatant...
