This seminar offers a general overview of the political science literature on insurgency and counterinsurgency. It aims to address questions of definition, operationalization of variables, and general methodological issues relevant to conducting research on insurgency and counterinsurgency. In that regard, the course looks at issues pertaining to the role of ethnicity, violence, poverty, aid and technology at how insurgencies are started, get fought and are countered or prevail. The course introduces the basic variables as well as the theoretical and empirical findings in the literature and discusses cases of insurgency and counterinsurgency in a variety of regions.