Counterinsurgency in Northern Ireland : a Case in Point?
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2014-07
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en
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In this thesis it is argued that Northern Ireland became the stage for a revolutionary war
during the Troubles of 1969-98. The conflict is thus perceived as a politico-military struggle
in which Republicans waged an insurgency in order to secede from the United Kingdom
while the British government acted as a counterinsurgent to prevent them from doing so.
Here, an insurgency is defined as an internal struggle in which a disaffected group (the
insurgents) seeks to gain control of a nation. It is a hybrid form of conflict that combines
subversion, guerrilla warfare, and terrorism. Counterinsurgency is its reactive strategy
which is adopted by – or in aid of – the government defending the status quo. It covers
the wide range of political and military efforts taken to prevent the insurgents from winning
over the support of the population while simultaneously convincing this population of the
government’s cause.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen