Within-Group Territorial Variation

Abstract

Abstract This chapter investigates how changes in the correlation of forces between the rebels and their rival states are closely matched by changes in rebels’ repertoire of violence. By looking at within-group variation, the goals and organizational culture are kept constant, while the constraints and opportunities that the rebels face change over time. Two conflicts with such temporal variation are analysed: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and ISIS in Iraq and Syria. In the first part of the chapter, the mutations of the Palestinian armed struggle are traced, including the gaining and losses of sanctuaries out of Israel, the campaigns of international terrorism, the infiltrations into Israel, and its eventual territorial control in the occupied territories. Regarding ISIS, it started as an underground group in Iraq; gained territory; lost it; and it was ‘resuscitated’ thanks to the Syrian civil war. Both narratives illustrate how the use of terrorism varied with changes in rebel strength.