As you point out, not every 'insurgency' is indeed just that nor are all politically based in the western sense...
Two minor comments.
Your statement that traumatic events seems to vary as a motivator is correct, I think but I'd also suggest that in the cases of Northern Ireland and the ME the stated cases of a trauma inducing joining an insurgency fall prey to ethnic pride and traditions on the one hand and the desire to project any fault to others -- your "emphasize the extent to which they were motivated by legitimate and worthy causes..." Thus it is possible that the impact of trauma was not as signifcant as is said. I believe that traumatic events provide some but far from a major number of insurgents and I also believe that while a few of those can become the most dedicated fighters, many more will wander away as time assuages the trauma. Many become the defectors, the Chieu Hois...
Your summary recommendation:is I think extremely perceptive and worthwhile."The United States should recognize this and help partner states vulnerable to insurgency sustain a military that might, to us, seem unnecessarily large. This one step is emblematic of the larger one we must take to be effective in counterinsurgency: we must stop thinking in purely political terms and understand the psychological dynamics at play."
Regrettably, in some circumstance where we have in the past tried to do this (consciously or not), idealists in Congress or elsewhere have forced abandonment due to concerns the US was fostering 'militarism' or 'interfering.' I'm not sure how to fix that...
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