Insurgency vs. Civil War

[Shir Panjshir]

OK. I'd really like to see you put some flesh on the bones here.
From a practitioners point of view, calling it a Civil War or an insurgency is actually completely superfluous, unless it's blindingly obvious, which it is. Warfare is pretty much warfare. War is War.

I think it is actually very important to label an insurgency as such. I think the main reason why the 2007 Surge was successful is because we approached it on a COIN level.

I am constantly amazed that people call Syria a "Civil War" ? How can they be so ignorant to the fact that this is a foreign invasion on a sovereign state?

I also think by labeling an insurgency as such also helps to combat it. Much like how we call ISIL Daesh. We do need to take the high ground and demoralize and label them as illegitimate of the people who reside in those territories that the insurgents inhabit.
http://ianbach2007.blogspot.com/2015...rebels-in.html