Posted by Dayuhan,

I'm curious about these things, since our friendly neighborhood rebels are also Maoists working in a democracy, an environment in which theoretically they shouldn't thrive
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This returns us to the overarching U.S. philosophical assumption that establishing a democracy and free market are the decisive actions for defeating (many interpretations) an insurgency. I'm not sure how many times this will have to be disproven before we have our aha moment that is not a universal law.

The levels of corruption in both India and the Philippines largely make their democracies irrelevant to vast portions of the population to begin with (I realize I'm arguing against myself, but I'm trying to be fair).

For external support the Maoists throughout S. Asia are interconnected to some degree, and of course the adage that an enemy of my enemy if my friend applies, so it isn't unreasonable to believe the Maoists in India are receiving some support from state actors hostile to India.

In the Philippines the NPA at its current level of activity can probably sustain itself through various criminal activities and taxes.