text: Foundations of Insurgency
  URBAN STRATEGY
  2-88. In the urban strategy, the insurgents attack government targets with the intention of causing
  government forces to overreact against the population. The insurgents want the government’s repressive
  measures to enrage the people so they will rise up, support the insurgency and overthrow the government.
  This strategy can be initiated without popular support. Its success relies almost exclusively on a
  spontaneous uprising sparked by rage at government oppression. However, an insurgency occurring in an
  urban area does not necessarily mean that it uses the urban strategy. On November 1, 1954, the National
  Liberation Front in Algeria used a form of the urban strategy when they launched a series of bombings
  and attacks, causing significant civilian casualties, in order to shock the French into negotiations. The
  urban strategy actions are often predictable and possess these characteristics—
  • Insurgents often use terrorist attacks, which they hope are highly visible and produce high
  casualties. Their true intention may not necessarily be to cause fear or terror, but to provoke the
  government into overreaction.
  • Insurgent propaganda tends to focus on government brutality, calling attention to specific harsh
  government actions such as massacres, torture of political prisoners, disappearances
  of individuals, and brutal responses to peaceful demonstrations.
  • Insurgent political organization is minimal with no sustained effort to indoctrinate political
  cadre or the masses.
  • Insurgents make little or no effort to subvert the government from within (however, infiltration
  of HN government and security forces still possible.
  • Insurgents require only a small amount of popular support.
  MILITARY-FOCUSED STRATEGY
  2-89. The military-focused strategy believes that military action can create the conditions needed
  for success. Military-focused insurgents often believe that a small group of guerrillas operating in an area
  where grievances exist can eventually gather enough support to achieve their aims. The success of this
  small group depends upon successful military action and popular uprising. The most iconic examples
  of military-focused strategy are Che Guevara and Fidel Castro; both proposed attacks on military
  and government targets until they gathered the support necessary to seize power. Military-focused strategy
  actions include—
  • Attacks on Host Nation targets to gain popular support.
  • Propaganda that incites people to join the insurgency and rise up against the government
  and that focuses on demonstrating the Host Nation Government’s weakness and illegitimacy.
  • Little evidence of long-term efforts at building a political base.
  • Little effort to building the political wing or infiltrating legitimate organizations.
  PROTRACTED POPULAR WAR STRATEGY
  2-90. The protracted popular war strategy is based on Mao Zedong’s theory of protracted popular war.
  This strategy is broken down into three distinct phases—latent or incipient, guerrilla warfare, and war
  of movement. Each phase builds upon the previous phase, and continues activities from the previous
  phases. The protracted popular war strategy has both a political wing and a military wing. This strategy
  requires a high level of organization and indoctrination, actions along multiple lines of effort,
  and leadership to direct the shifting of phases according to circumstances. In all the variations of this
  strategy, certain characteristics tend to stand out, such as—
  • Continuous, long-term efforts to build popular support, infiltrate legitimate government
  organizations, and establish and maintain a clandestine organization.
  • Highly-indoctrinated leadership, political cadre, and guerrilla fighters.
  • Extensive, well-organized, unarmed auxiliary.
  • Leadership that is able to exert control over the insurgency.