An armed group that seeks to advance a popular objective through armed struggle against the state. Those who become insurgents are willing to risk everything (status, life and family) for their cause. People with this resolve are hard to stop and can be a serious challenge for the state.
Insurgents often engage in criminal activities, such as kidnapping for ransom and bombing. They also typically have minimal conventional military capability, but rely on a combination of tactics that include terrorist attacks against foreign civilians and domestic economic disruption. Some of the more successful insurgents are able to integrate into local communities, which increases their resilience. Vanguard groups can be difficult to transform to integrated structures, as it is often impossible to build deep ties of trust and information between commanders in a parochial structure. A disloyal second rung of cadres can also undermine a vanguard, as happened to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar after the Taliban pulled away his local units.
Integrated insurgents are the hardest to break down, as they tend to have strong local ties and competent leadership. However, indiscriminate military assaults can break down a well-integrated insurgent by destroying the underlying social ties that make institutions function. Alternatively, insurgents can shift to less violent tactics or enter into negotiations with the state in order to gain market share from more violent rivals. More research is needed to understand factors that may encourage an armed group to embrace strategic restraint.