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Brilliant insights from Dr. Berti!
For a few articles related to this subject, see also:
http://www.usafa.edu/df/inss/OCP/ocp57.pdf
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/usafa/modeling_vnsa.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20080306112845/http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/dec02/terrorism2.asp
https://www.odi.org/publications/6662-humanitarian-negotiations-non-state-armed-militia-rebel
http://web.archive.org/web/20090301023230/http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2004/mar/casebeerMar04.pdf
Dr. Berti’s discussion about non-state violent actors is very interesting and filled with expert insights, but I didn’t hear much about “what makes these actors tick”. I think it’s vitally important to acknowledge and emphasize that there are two “brands” of non-state violent actors: Economically motivated individuals and groups versus politically/religiously motivated individuals and groups. The former (robbers, bandits, the various Mafia, the Tong, the Yakuza, drug lords, etc.) do not want to overthrow anything, but rather—as with most parasites—they have a vested interest in keeping the host alive. The latter (the Zealots, Jihadists, Irgun, Mau-Mau, Viet Cong, etc.) are primarily concerned with overturning an established political/social order and are most often motivated by religious or quasi-religious beliefs. We can live with irritating dandruff indefinitely, but we can’t live with an aggressive cancer. If we don’t kill the dandruff we flake. If we don’t kill the cancer we die.