A National Context Framework for Insurgency Movements: The Guerrilla Warfare Context in Guatemala, Argentina, and Nicarague What factors affect the outcome of insurgency? Insurgency is typically defined in terms of an organized resistance movement that uses subversion, sabotage, and armed conflict to achieve its aims of either overthrowing a government or changing a specific aspect of government. Traditional explanations of the outcome of insurgency focus on an insurgency’s level of popular support acquisition, both domestic and international, which consequently leads to higher levels of resource mobilization, simply defined as the flow of monetary and human resources. I argue that guerrilla warfare, one of the most commonly used tactics by insurgents, is an important explanatory variable in understanding the outcome of an insurgency, and more specifically, the way insurgents develop a guerrilla strategy within their specific national context. Comparing the Ejército Guerrillero de Los Pobres in Guatemala, the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias in Argentina, and the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, I illustrate how specific guerrilla strategies may succeed or fail depending on the state’s national context— the people’s willingness to fight, the social and political reality, and the government’s counterinsurgency capability. I find that history and culture influence the development of guerrilla strategy and that this strategy only leads to a successful insurgency when it aligns with the different factors that make up the national context. This conclusion has implications for both insurgency theory and for counterinsurgency policy. Giambertoni, Marzia creator Kinzer, Stephen thesis advisor Rodriguez, Daniel reader Brown University. Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs sponsor 2022 text_resources born digital English Senior thesis (AB)--Brown University, 2022 International & Public Affairs theses Argentina Insurgency Nicaragua Guerrilla warfare popular support Guatemala All rights reserved In Copyright All Rights Reserved 10.26300/kzv0-9442