ABSTRACT
The political community consists of those who accept interacting together in a situation where binding decisions will be made for all. On another level some groups may grant legitimacy to the regime but reject the specific individuals in power. The important thing to remember in this discussion is that insurgency is essentially a political legitimacy crisis of some sort. Three forms of warfare are normally important in insurgent conflicts: terrorism, guerrilla war, and conventional warfare. Generally, insurgents will employ one or several of the following methods to gain desired support and recruits: esoteric appeals, exoteric appeals, terrorism, provocation of government counter-terrorism and demonstrations of potency. The final means the insurgents employ to establish popular support, demonstration of potency, has two dimensions: retaining the military initiative and meeting the needs of the people through social services and a governing apparatus. Organization is a major factor enabling insurgents to compensate for the material superiority of opponents.
