Home > Terrorism: Essential Primary Sources > Introduction to Insurgent Terrorism

Insurgent terrorism is violence perpetrated by those who seek to challenge or depose existing social or political structures. Insurgent terrorists may have diverse motives and goals, usually not as formal as those of separatist terrorists, but are unified to the extent that they oppose established authority, such as a government or occupation force.

The editors acknowledge that the terms insurgent and insurgency have political connotations, and the editors assert that the terms are used as neutrally as possible within this book. The Iraqi insurgency is addressed in this chapter of the book because coalition forces and the international media have adopted the term insurgency to describe terrorist activities in the nation since the declared end of major combat operations in 2003. Separatist terrorism, including anti-colonial terrorism, can fall into the category of insurgent terrorism, however, the editors have chosen to emphasize...