Contemporary forms of warfare – insurgency and counterinsurgency operations Case study: Syrian Arab Republic

Abstract

Insurgency and counterinsurgency, as modern forms of warfare, are presented in the paper as two phenomena that are actually present in all phases of human civilization. Due to the interest of a large number of experts, it can be considered a modern phenomenon. Rebellion is one way of expressing dissatisfaction with a certain situation. Some of the factors that encourage this dissatisfaction are economic and social inequality and the violation of human rights and freedoms. Dissatisfaction can be so strong that it encourages an uprising of rebels to overthrow the government. In contrast to this is counterinsurgency, which includes all means of suppressing the insurgency. It is carried out with conventional, regular means by forces trained for this type of combat. Due to its complexity, the civil war in the Syrian Arab Republic is taken as a case study. The paper explains the historical predispositions to the
outbreak of the conflict, its further development, the interests of individual external and internal actors, and presents some of the possible solutions to the Syrian issue.