The ‘cult of the insurgent’
Its tactical and strategic implications
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12347665 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bruce Hoffman (0000-0002-7740-1545, Georgetown University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 312-329 |
| Publication date | 2007-08-29 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Australian Journal Of International Affairs (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1035-7718 • E-ISSN: 1465-332X |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10357710701531503 |
| OpenAlex | W1987302157 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 11 |
More important than the potential geographical spread of a specific weapon, tactic or expertise is the emulation or inspiration of the ‘culture’ surrounding a terrorist or insurgent movement. This article argues that a ‘cult of the insurgent’ has arisen as a result of the aura of success surrounding both the Iraqi insurgents in their ongoing confrontation with the United States military and Hezbollah in its confrontation in the northern summer of 2006 with Israel. Further, this ‘cult of the insurgent’ will prove the most critical factor in inspiring, motivating and animating the spread of lethal and destructive expertise among other terrorist and insurgent groups worldwide. In the future, therefore, our adversaries will likely conclude that the best and most cost-effective means to confront either a superpower or the superior, conventional military forces of an established nation-state is through a campaign reliant on terrorist and insurgent tactics involving stand-off attacks utilising IEDS (improvised explosive devices) and portable missiles and mortars1 1. I am indebted to my close friend and valued colleague, Professor Ami Pedahzur of the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin for the discussions and exchanges of e-mails that helped to crystallise the arguments presented in this article. I am also indebted to our mutual friend and researcher par excellence, Dr. Arie Perliger, of the National Security Studies Center at Haifa University, Israel, for the very helpful assistance he provided with respect to cataloguing for me the vast array of off-the-shelf and improvised weapons used by both the Iraqi insurgents and Hezbollah in their respective confrontations with the US and coalition military forces in Iraq and the Israel Defence Forces in south Lebanon
Adversary · Computer security · Cult · Government (linguistics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Superpower · Terrorism · Intelligence, Security, War Strategy · Law · Public Administration · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
| Citations per year | 0.18 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2009 - 2014 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |