GEOGRAPHY AND INSURGENT STRATEGY IN SRI LANKA AND THE PHILIPPINES

Abstract

The article analyses the influence of geography on the strategy of insurgent groups in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. It uses the conceptualization of geography created by David Galula to examine the influence of 8 distinct categories of geography on the strategy of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The analysis shows that while the geography of Sri Lanka was a driving force that enabled many of the LTTE successes, it had a divisive effect in the Philippines and heavily contributed to the military failures of the Moro independence movement.