Overview

Guerrilla Warfare (Spanish for “Little War”) is the weapon of the weak against the strong. It is the flea biting the dog.

Core Idea

The core idea is Asymmetry. You can’t win a fair fight, so don’t fight fair. Hit and run. Blend into the population.

Formal Definition

Irregular warfare fought by small, mobile groups against a larger, conventional force.

Intuition

  • The Fish and the Water: “The guerrilla must move amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea.” (Mao Zedong). If the people support you, you are invisible.
  • Death by a Thousand Cuts: You don’t need a knockout blow. You just need to make the war too expensive and painful for the enemy to continue.

Examples

  • Vietnam: The Viet Cong vs. the US Military.
  • American Revolution: The colonists used guerrilla tactics against the British.
  • Afghanistan: The Graveyard of Empires.

Common Misconceptions

  • Misconception: They are disorganized.
    • Correction: Successful insurgencies are highly organized politically and militarily.
  • Misconception: They can’t win.
    • Correction: They rarely win battles, but they often win wars by exhausting the enemy’s political will.
  • Terrorism: Often overlaps, but guerrilla warfare targets military, while terrorism targets civilians.
  • Sun Tzu: The philosophy of the indirect approach.

Applications

  • Insurgency/Counter-Insurgency (COIN): The dominant form of modern conflict.

Criticism and Limitations

  • Cost: It requires immense suffering from the civilian population.

Further Reading

  • On Guerrilla Warfare by Mao Zedong
  • Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence