the.com/insurgency
A rebellion too small to call a war, too armed to call a protest.
means An organized uprising against a government or occupying power, usually fought with guerrilla tactics rather than open battle lines.
from Rooted in Latin insurgere — 'to rise up,' from in- (upon) plus surgere (to rise, the same root that gives us 'surge'). English borrowed 'insurgent' in the late 1700s for rebels rising against authority, and 'insurgency' followed as the abstract noun for the rising itself — the state of being up in arms rather than up in protest.
- legal status
- no treaty actually defines the word precisely
- tactic
- outlast the occupier, not outfight them
- classic ratio
- counterinsurgents need roughly 10 troops per 1 insurgent
- endgame
- wins by making governing cost more than leaving