Terms Used in UW
Joint doctrine defines UW as activities conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt, or overthrow a government or occupying power by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary, and guerrilla force in a denied area. (JP 3-05)
More recently, published Public Law defines UW as "activities conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt, or overthrow a government or occupying power by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary, or guerrilla force in a denied area." [Public Law 114-92 Sec. 1097, S.1356 — 114th Congress (2015-2016), National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2016]
Resistance Movement: An organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to resist the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. (JP 3-05)
Insurgency: The organized use of subversion and violence to seize, nullify, or challenge political control of a region. Insurgency can also refer to the group itself. (JP 3-24)
Counter Insurgency: Comprehensive civilian and military efforts taken to defeat an insurgency and to address any core grievances. (JP 3-24)
Foreign Internal Defense: Participation by civilian and military agencies of a government in any of the action programs taken by another government or other designated organization to free and protect its society from subversion, lawlessness, insurgency, terrorism, and other threats to its security. (JP 3-22)
Coerce: Coercion is forcing someone of some entity to do something it would rather not do. UW can apply the method of coercion through supporting a resistance or insurgency. (JP 3-05.1)
Disrupt: Disruption prevents or impedes someone or some entity from doing something it would prefer to do. Although disruption can be a relatively small-scale, it can also be large-scale such as coordinated regional resistance. (JP 3-05.1)
