Despite the official end of the United States’ global War on Terror in December 2022, the U.S. National Security Strategy notes the threat from armed non-state actors “is more ideologically diverse and geographically diffuse than that of two decades ago.”
This book offers readers an overview of major themes driving the proliferation of armed non-state actor groups operating throughout the greater Middle East, including a discussion of such conceptual issues as irregular warfare, separatist rebellions, proxy forces, insurgency, terrorism, and private military contractors. Rather than categorizing armed groups according to changing or contentious labels, the chronological organization follows the date of founding, with information on motivations or aims, strategies, organizational structure, safe havens or areas of operation, networks of political and financial support, and challenges to group capacity.
Many studies provide in-depth analysis of a single group or a particular strategy or motivation, while this work offers breadth in profiling dozens of groups with various aims over time to assess patterns of continuity and change. As armed groups learn from one another and adapt to evolving conditions, surveying numerous groups from the Cold War era of competition through 2022 offers insights for emerging trends and potential trajectories of armed groups.
