page_title: Insurgency
section_title: McCormick Magic Diamond
hierarchical_section_title: Insurgency / Political rhetoric, myths and models / McCormick Magic Diamond
caption_attribution_description: McCormick model of insurgency
context_page_description: An insurgency is a violent rebellion against authority when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognized as belligerents. An insurgency can be fought via counter-insurgency warfare, and may also be opposed by measures to protect the population and by political and economic actions of various kinds, as well as propaganda aimed at undermining the insurgents' claims against the incumbent regime. As a concept, insurgency's nature is ambiguous.
  Not all rebellions are insurgencies. There have been many cases of non-violent rebellions, using civil resistance, as in the People Power Revolution in the Philippines in the 1980s that ousted President Marcos and the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Where a revolt takes the form of armed rebellion, it may not be viewed as an insurgency if a state of belligerency exists between one or more sovereign states and rebel forces. For example, during the American Civil War, the Confederate States of America was not recognized as a sovereign state, but it was recognized as a belligerent power, and thus Confederate warships were given the same rights as United States warships in foreign ports.
context_section_description: McCormick's model is designed as a tool for counterinsurgency (COIN), but develops a symmetrical view of the required actions for both the Insurgent and COIN forces to achieve success. In this way the counterinsurgency model can demonstrate how both the insurgent and COIN forces succeed or fail. The model's strategies and principle apply to both forces, therefore the degree the forces follow the model should have a direct correlation to the success or failure of either the Insurgent or COIN force.
  The model depicts four key elements or players:
  Insurgent force
  Counterinsurgency force (i.e., the government)
  Population
  International community
  All of these interact, and the different elements have to assess their best options in a set of actions:
  Gaining support of the population
  Disrupt opponent's control over the population
  Direct action against opponent
  Disrupt opponent's relations with the international community
  Establish relationships with the international community
caption: McCormick insurgency model
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