Conclusion : reconnecting the asymmetries of political violence

Collectively the chapters in this book show very clearly that a primary purpose of the political violence of the state is to devalue, undermine and ultimately eradicate, the political legitimacy of those that resist state power. The causes and the actions of insurgent sub-state political violence are represented as a technical problem, devoid of politics, motivated by irrationality, barbarism and evil 'Bringing politics back in', the book has therefore shown, entails a focus on both state and counter-state political violence, and indeed the connections between the two.