Such organizations often take advantage of states that lack the legitimacy or capacity to administer their own territory effectively, launching a mix of political and armed operations that, over time, give them coercive control over local populations. The result is what General Sir Rupert Smith, a former British commander in Northern Ireland and the Balkans, called “war among the people” – a kind of struggle that is rarely decided on conventional battlefields by traditional armies.
这些组织常常利用国家缺乏合法性或能力有效管理领土的空子，政治和武装行动双管齐下，假以时日，它们可以牢牢控制当地人口。结果是前英国驻北爱尔兰和巴尔干地区司令官史密斯爵士将军（General Sir Rupert Smith）所谓的“人民之间的战争”——不再由传统军队在常规战场上进行的战斗。