Introduction

Abstract

Since 1945, insurgents around the globe have increasingly dragged comparatively larger, better funded, and militarily superior regimes into protracted intrastate conflicts. This introductory chapter reviews some of the current literature and approaches in this area of study and introduces the theory which undergirds the entire volume—incubation. It discusses why ‘winning’ an insurgent war does not necessarily mean overthrowing the state because insurgents can accrue many benefits from protracting conflict. This chapter makes the claim that conflict duration, as opposed to outcome, is a more logical measure for assessing intrastate conflict especially with the ever-increasing prevalence of protracted insurgent war. It also introduces the case studies used in subsequent chapters and gives an overall layout of the book.