Strategic Role of Armed Non-State Actors

[William F. Owen]

Plain English? What does current research say about what armed anti-government groups do, and why they do it?

So you want to know why irregular forces use violence to gain political objectives? Wouldn't the context provide the answer?

We want to know so we can develop a framework - a set of lenses, if you will - for military folks to look through to help them produce intelligence during "peacekeeping" or counterinsurgency operations in fragile or failing states.

So how does answering the first question have any relevance to producing an a useful intelligence product? Without specific contexts, this is meaningless.

The statement of work seemed to be written in gibberish for anyone whose first language is English.