This book analyses the strategies and narratives of Non-State Armed Actors (NSAAs), principally relying on primary material and interviews conducted by the author. The book develops a simple model based on goals and means, which allows us to increase our understanding and comprehension of organisations and individuals that decide to take up arms in the name of a political cause. One of the key arguments is that statehood plays a critical role for NSAAs, irrespective of their military capabilities, ideological aspirations and geographic origins. They are ‘non-state’ not by choice but because they are unable to be a ‘state’ actor. In other words, their stateless status is a matter of lack of power, not lack of will.

With the aim of shedding light on the intimate relationship between NSAAs and statehood, the book examines 25 cases from around the globe. These armed actors use violence in order to attain divergent political aims, which are segmented into two macro categories, namely territorial change (secessionists) and regime change (Marxists-Leninist, Salafi-Jihadists and far-right).