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All Counterinsurgency is Local: Counterinsurgency and Rebel Legitimacy

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  • Andrew J. Gawthorpe

Abstract

Although the concept of legitimacy is central to Western counterinsurgency theory, most discourse in this area black-boxes the concept. It hence remains under-specified in many discussions of counterinsurgency. Fortunately, recent research on rebel governance and legitimacy contributes to our understanding of the problems faced by counterinsurgents who want to boost state legitimacy while undermining that of the rebels. Taken together, this research illustrates that a rational choice approach to legitimacy is simplistic; that micro-level factors ultimately drive legitimacy dynamics; and that both cooption of existing legitimate local elites and their replacement from the top–down is unlikely to succeed. Western counterinsurgency doctrine has failed to grasp the difficulties this poses for it.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew J. Gawthorpe, 2017. "All Counterinsurgency is Local: Counterinsurgency and Rebel Legitimacy," Small Wars and Insurgencies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(4-5), pages 839-852, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:fswixx:v:28:y:2017:i:4-5:p:839-852
    DOI: 10.1080/09592318.2017.1322330
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    Cited by:

    1. Nicolas Johnston & Srinjoy Bose, 2020. "Violence, Power and Meaning: The Moral Logic of Terrorism," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 11(3), pages 315-325, May.

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