Analytical Studies & Frameworks
9 PublicationsTitles carrying a Full record link have a dedicated page setting out that document’s provenance, contents and rights status.
Undergrounds in Insurgent, Revolutionary, and Resistance Warfare (2nd Ed.)
US Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, National Security Analysis DepartmentSecond Edition · 25 January 2013 · 210 pages · PDF, 1.2 MB
First edition published by the Special Operations Research Office, American University, November 1963
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement that the publication is a work of the United States Government, and that reproduction is permitted for any purpose of the US government
Analyzes the organization, security, and operations of underground movements, offering insights into how clandestine networks sustain resistance over time. The 2nd edition draws on modern case material and incorporates significant revisions to the original 1963 SORO study. Demonstrates that the underground is the structural element allowing a resistance movement to survive penetration, regenerate after losses, and sustain itself across decades, making clandestine network design the single highest-leverage variable in long-duration irregular warfare.
Human Factors Considerations of Undergrounds in Insurgencies (2nd Ed.)
US Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, National Security Analysis DepartmentSecond Edition · 25 January 2013 · 398 pages · PDF, 3.1 MB
First edition published by the Special Operations Research Office, American University, December 1965
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement that the publication is a work of the United States Government, and that reproduction is permitted for any purpose of the US government
Explores the psychology, recruitment, and group dynamics that drive individuals to join and remain active in underground movements. The 2nd edition draws on psychology, political science, economics, sociology, and organizational studies to update the original 1965 SORO publication. Establishes that recruitment, retention, and operational discipline in underground movements are governed primarily by interpersonal trust, perceived legitimacy, and the social cost of defection. Counterinsurgency strategies that ignore group psychology will misread both the movement and the population around it.
Legal Implications of the Status of Persons in Resistance
US Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, National Security Analysis DepartmentEdition not printed · Date not printed · 226 pages · PDF, 2.0 MB
Edited by Erin N. Hahn, with W. Sam Lauber
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement that the publication is a work of the United States Government, and that reproduction is permitted for any purpose of the US government
Examines how insurgents, partisans, and civilians are classified under international and domestic law, clarifying their rights, risks, and obligations. An essential reference for understanding the legal framework governing irregular warfare participants. Demonstrates that the legal classification of resistance fighters is shaped by the conduct of the movement itself, the policies of the occupying power, and the postwar political settlement. Legal status functions as an operational variable throughout the life of an insurgency.
Threshold of Violence
Printed title: Assessing Revolutionary and Insurgent Strategies: Threshold of ViolenceUS Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, National Security Analysis Department
Edition not printed · Date not printed · 92 pages · PDF, 2.0 MB
Guillermo Pinczuk lead author and editor, with Chris Kurowski
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement that the publication is a work of the United States Government, and that reproduction is permitted for any purpose of the US government
Examines how and why resistance movements transition from nonviolent protest to armed struggle, analyzing the factors that influence the decision to resort to violence. Provides a framework for identifying escalation indicators and understanding the tipping points of insurgency. Shows that the shift from nonviolent to armed resistance is most often a cascade triggered by state repression, internal factional pressure, and the closing of legitimate political channels. The regime’s own response is the most reliable predictor of when a movement crosses the threshold.
The Science of Resistance
US Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, National Security Analysis DepartmentFirst Edition · 2019 · 284 pages · PDF, 2.2 MB
Summer D. Agan lead author, JHU Applied Physics Laboratory
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement and, separately, Copyright © 2019 by the United States Army Special Operations Command
Explores why resistance movements emerge, how they organize, and what factors shape their strategies and outcomes. Provides a framework for understanding resistance across a spectrum from nonviolent action to armed struggle, drawing on political science and organizational theory. Establishes that resistance is best understood as a continuum across nonviolent civic action, armed insurgency, and state-backed unconventional warfare. These modes share underlying dynamics of mobilization, organization, and legitimacy, and movements routinely move between them as conditions change.
Resistance and the Cyber Domain
US Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, National Security Analysis DepartmentFirst Edition · 2019 · 432 pages · PDF, 10.2 MB
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement and, separately, Copyright © 2019 by the United States Army Special Operations Command
Examines how resistance movements use cyberspace for communication, organization, and influence while also facing new vulnerabilities. Offers insights into narratives, operational security, and the evolving role of cyber operations in irregular warfare. Demonstrates that cyberspace is now an operational domain for resistance on equal footing with the physical and human domains. It provides reach, anonymity, and rapid mobilization while creating the most exploitable surface for state surveillance, disruption, and counter-narrative operations.
Understanding States of Resistance
Printed title: Assessing Revolutionary and Insurgent Strategies: Understanding States of ResistanceUS Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, National Security Analysis Department
Edition not printed · Date not printed · 164 pages · PDF, 1.6 MB
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement that the publication is a work of the United States Government, and that reproduction is permitted for any purpose of the US government
Develops a phasing framework to explain how resistance movements emerge, grow, and decline. Integrates insights from law, economics, and political science to analyze their progression and outcomes across historical and contemporary cases.
Understanding Resistance
Printed title: Special Topics in Irregular Warfare: Understanding ResistanceUS Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, National Security Analysis Department
Edition not printed · Date not printed · 270 pages · PDF, 2.5 MB
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement that the publication is a work of the United States Government, and that reproduction is permitted for any purpose of the US government
Introduces key concepts for analyzing contemporary resistance, from phases of mobilization to legitimacy, external influence, and the transition from movements to governance. Provides Special Operations Forces with conceptual tools for assessment in the field.
The Day After Overthrow: How the Behavior of the State and the Resistance Shapes Post-Overthrow Outcomes
US Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, National Security Analysis DepartmentEdition not printed · Date not printed on the document · 166 pages · PDF, 11.9 MB
The hosted filename carries the string 2018. No 2018 date appears anywhere in the document, so this page does not date it.
Rights: prints no Title 17 statement and no copyright line, only that reproduction is permitted for any purpose of the US government
Examines 69 cases of state overthrow since World War II, analyzing how the behavior of both governments and resistance movements shapes post-transition outcomes, from recurring civil war to stable governance. A data-driven framework for predicting post-conflict trajectories.
Resistance Manual & Pocket Guide
2 PublicationsTitles carrying a Full record link have a dedicated page setting out that document’s provenance, contents and rights status.
Resistance Manual
Printed title: Resistance Manual: Assessing Revolutionary and Insurgent StrategiesUS Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, National Security Analysis Department
Draft, first edition · October 2019 · 149 pages · PDF, 4.5 MB
The word DRAFT is printed on the cover, on the title page and in the running header of every page
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement and, separately, Copyright © 2019 by the US Army Special Operations Command
Provides a comprehensive guide to resistance theory, organization, and dynamics, integrating insights from political science and history to explain how movements form, sustain themselves, and adapt under pressure. Functions as the doctrinal synthesis of the entire ARIS program, distilling decades of case-study evidence into a single framework. The framework explains why resistance movements share the same underlying organizational, legitimacy, and operational logics across vastly different historical contexts.
Unconventional Warfare Pocket Guide
US Army Special Operations Command, Deputy Chief of Staff G3, Sensitive Activities Division, Fort Bragg, North CarolinaV1.0 · 5 April 2016 · 44 pages · PDF, 1.0 MB
The hosted filename carries the string 2019, which the document does not support. Its running footer prints 5 April 2016 on every page.
Rights: no rights notice printed on the document
Distills key concepts of resistance, insurgency, and unconventional warfare into a compact reference for military leaders and planners, emphasizing doctrine, phases of resistance, and critical factors for success. Designed for field use and rapid orientation.
Case Studies in Insurgent, Revolutionary & Resistance Warfare
12 PublicationsCasebook on Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare: Vol. I (1933–1962) Revised Ed.
US Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Layout by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LaboratoryRevised Edition · 25 January 2013 · 770 pages · PDF, 7.1 MB
First edition published by the Special Operations Research Office, American University, December 1962
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement that the publication is a work of the United States Government, and that reproduction is permitted for any purpose of the US government
A survey of insurgent and revolutionary campaigns from 1933 to 1962, capturing early organizational patterns, strategies, and the influence of external actors. Originally produced by SORO in 1962 and updated under ARIS. Covers 23 insurgencies from the first half of the twentieth century. Establishes the comparative baseline for resistance scholarship by demonstrating that organizational form, external sponsorship, and population mobilization patterns are more predictive of insurgent outcomes than ideology, terrain, or technology.
Casebook on Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare: Vol. II (1962–2009)
US Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, National Security Analysis DepartmentEdition not printed · 27 April 2012 · 888 pages · PDF, 14.2 MB
Paul J. Tompkins Jr. project lead, Chuck Crossett editor
Rights: prints no Title 17 statement and no copyright line, only that reproduction is permitted for any purpose of the US government
An examination of insurgencies from 1962 to 2009 across multiple regions, analyzing Cold War and post–Cold War dynamics in shaping movements and outcomes. Covers 23 insurgencies from the latter half of the twentieth century through the early twenty-first. Demonstrates that the shift from bipolar superpower competition to fragmented regional sponsorship transformed insurgent strategy, financing, and lifespan, and that movements which adapted to multipolar patronage outlasted those tied to single state sponsors.
Case Studies: Fostering Effective Counter Unconventional Warfare / Occupation
Printed title: Case Studies in Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare: Fostering Effective Counter Unconventional Warfare/OccupationUS Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, National Security Analysis Department
First Edition · 2019, per the citation line printed in the document · 144 pages · PDF, 1.7 MB
Robert Leonhard, author, JHU Applied Physics Laboratory
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement and, separately, Copyright © 2019 by the United States Army Special Operations Command
TRH analysis: Effective Counter Unconventional Warfare
A study of resistance against Soviet and Russian aggression, distilled into lessons for designing counter–unconventional warfare strategies and national resilience. Examines how states and populations organize and sustain resistance against occupying powers. Shows that effective counter-UW depends less on military response and more on pre-crisis civil resilience, distributed leadership, and institutional preparation undertaken before occupation begins.
The Rhodesian Insurgency and the Role of External Support (1961–1979)
Printed title: Unconventional Warfare Case Study: The Rhodesian Insurgency and the Role of External Support: 1961–1979US Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, National Security Analysis Department
Edition not printed · Date not printed · 263 pages · PDF, 3.1 MB
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement that the publication is a work of the United States Government, and that reproduction is permitted for any purpose of the US government
A case study of the nationalist insurgency against white minority rule, focusing on ZANU and ZAPU and the influence of competing Soviet and Chinese external support. Examines sanctuary, material aid, and diplomatic cover alongside Rhodesian Security Forces cross-border responses. Demonstrates that competing external sponsors can fragment a nationalist movement into rival factions, and that sanctuary states impose strategic constraints on insurgents that often outlast the war itself.
Colombia (1964–2009)
Printed title: Case Studies in Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare: Colombia (1964–2009)US Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, National Security Analysis Department
Edition not printed · Date not printed · 478 pages · PDF, 13.3 MB
Summer Newton editor. The hosted filename misspells Colombia.
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement that the publication is a work of the United States Government, and that reproduction is permitted for any purpose of the US government
A case study of Colombia’s long insurgencies, examining the origins, structures, and strategies of groups such as FARC, ELN, M-19, and AUC, alongside government countermeasures and lessons for future conflict. One of the most complex protracted insurgency environments of the modern era. Shows how insurgent organizations evolve into hybrid criminal-political enterprises when they capture illicit economies, and how this transformation reshapes both their objectives and the counterinsurgency response required to defeat them.
Guatemala (1944–1954)
Printed title: Case Studies in Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare: Guatemala 1944–1954, Revised EditionUS Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Layout by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Revised Edition · Revision date not printed · 138 pages · PDF, 2.9 MB
First edition published by the Special Operations Research Office, American University, November 1964
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement that the publication is a work of the United States Government, and that reproduction is permitted for any purpose of the US government
TRH analysis: Case Study: Guatemala
A study analyzing Guatemala’s revolutionary period, detailing the political, social, and military factors that contributed to instability and regime change. Documents the mechanics of the CIA-backed counterrevolution and how external intervention shapes insurgent outcomes. Demonstrates that small-scale external intervention can succeed against a weakly consolidated regime when it combines covert action with information operations, exile mobilization, and the manufactured appearance of internal collapse.
Sri Lanka (1976–2009)
Printed title: Case Studies in Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare: Sri Lanka (1976–2009)US Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, National Security Analysis Department
Edition not printed · Date not printed · 398 pages · PDF, 7.5 MB
Guillermo Pinczuk editor, with Mike Deane and Jesse Kirkpatrick
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement that the publication is a work of the United States Government, and that reproduction is permitted for any purpose of the US government
A study of the protracted conflict between the Sri Lankan state and the LTTE, analyzing insurgent strategy, government responses, and the factors leading to the war’s conclusion. Covers both the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) and the JVP insurgencies in depth. Shows that an insurgency capable of fielding conventional forces, naval and air components, and proto-state governance is ultimately defeated not by counterinsurgency tactics but by a state willing to accept the political and humanitarian costs of total military victory.
Algeria (1954–1962), Revised Edition
Printed title: Case Studies in Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare: Algeria 1954–1962, Revised EditionUS Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Layout by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Revised Edition · Revision date not printed · 166 pages · PDF, 6.2 MB
First edition published by the Special Operations Research Office, American University, December 1963
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement that the publication is a work of the United States Government, and that reproduction is permitted for any purpose of the US government
A case study of the Algerian War of Independence, highlighting FLN insurgent methods, French counterinsurgency measures, and the role of population mobilization. Examines the strategic cost of tactical victory and the political dimensions of decolonization warfare. Demonstrates that counterinsurgency tactics can succeed militarily while failing politically, and that the legitimacy of methods used against a population determines the strategic outcome more than their operational effectiveness.
Greece During World War II
Printed title: Case Study in Guerrilla War: Greece During World War II, Revised EditionUS Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Layout by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Revised Edition · Revision date not printed · 352 pages · PDF, 5.3 MB
First edition published by the Special Operations Research Office, American University. This edition’s copyright page prints December 1962; the ARIS series list printed in sibling volumes gives 1961.
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement that the publication is a work of the United States Government, and that reproduction is permitted for any purpose of the US government
An examination of the Greek resistance to Axis occupation, focusing on guerrilla operations, competing factions (EAM, ELAS, EDES), and the impact on liberation and postwar politics. Originally published by SORO in 1961 and updated under ARIS. Demonstrates how external sponsorship competition fragments resistance movements along ideological lines, and how the organizational structures built during occupation become the political fault lines of the postwar order.
Cuba (1953–1959)
Printed title: Case Studies in Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare: Cuba 1953–1959, Revised EditionUS Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Layout by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Revised Edition · Revision date not printed · 170 pages · PDF, 5.6 MB
First edition published by the Special Operations Research Office, American University, September 1963
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement that the publication is a work of the United States Government, and that reproduction is permitted for any purpose of the US government
A case study of the Cuban Revolution, tracing the rise of Castro’s insurgency against Batista and the strategies that enabled its victory, from the Sierra Maestra guerrilla campaign to urban underground operations and the political collapse of the regime. Shows that a small rural guerrilla force can topple a numerically superior regime when the incumbent loses elite cohesion, urban underground networks shift the population’s loyalty, and the security forces conclude the regime is no longer worth defending.
The Patriot Insurgency (1763–1789)
Printed title: Case Studies in Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare: The Patriot Insurgency (1763–1789)US Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, National Security Analysis Department
First Edition · 2019, per the citation line printed in the document · 226 pages · PDF, 8.6 MB
Robert R. Leonhard lead author, with Summer D. Agan and Stephen P. Phillips
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement and, separately, Copyright © 2019 by the United States Army Special Operations Command
TRH analysis: Case Study: The Revolutionary War
An analysis of the American Revolution as an insurgency, highlighting organization, foreign support, and the transformation of colonial resistance into independence. Examines how a colonial irregular force defeated a conventional military power through sustained asymmetric warfare. Demonstrates that an insurgency built on parallel governance, foreign alliance, and the strategic exhaustion of the occupying power can defeat a conventional military without ever defeating it on the battlefield.
The Relationship Between Iran and Lebanese Hizbollah
Printed title: Unconventional Warfare Case Study: The Relationship between Iran and Lebanese HizbollahUS Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, National Security Analysis Department
Edition not printed · Date not printed · 150 pages · PDF, 4.0 MB
Guillermo Pinczuk and Theodore Plettner, authors. The hosted filename carries Jan2017, which the document does not print.
Rights: prints the Title 17 statement that the publication is a work of the United States Government, and that reproduction is permitted for any purpose of the US government
A study of the strategic, financial, and operational ties linking Iran with Hizbollah, underscoring the network’s role in regional unconventional warfare. Examines state-sponsored proxy relationships as a model for external support structures in irregular conflict. Demonstrates that a sustained state-proxy relationship built on ideological alignment, deep financial integration, and shared operational infrastructure produces a non-state actor with the strategic reach of a state and the political deniability of an insurgent.
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