Insurgency and Terrorism: According to Alex Schmid, an insurgency is: “an armed uprising, revolt, or rebellion by a political group or party against a domestic or foreign ruling in order to subvert it, overthrow it, expel it, and break away from it, or simply to enhance the group’s bargaining position for subsequent political compromise. Acts of terrorism are a frequent occurrence in many insurgencies.” According to Jeffrey Bale, terrorism refers to: “the use or threatened use of violence, usually directed against victims selected for their symbolic or representative value, as a means of instilling anxiety in, transmitting one or more messages to, and thereby manipulating the perceptions and behavior of wider target audiences.”

This course examines various insurgent movements that have persisted in South Asia for several decades and the different strategies that have been employed by governments to roll back these insurgencies. Geographically, South Asia includes India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and the Maldives. For the purpose of this course, South Asia will also include Afghanistan, which is closely enmeshed in security dynamics related to other parts of the subcontinent, especially Pakistan. In the course of the semester, several case studies of insurgent movements will be examined, such as the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the Maoist insurgencies in Nepal and India. Other case studies will include the three-decade long campaign by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka, and several cases of insurgencies in northeastern India, involving groups such as the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN).