Liberation movements and US policy - Research Paper Example

Over the past, there has been a number of liberation movements all aimed at getting some specific end results. These liberation movements usually have some effects on the areas in which they operate. They touch on different spheres for instance political, social, economic and socio-cultural areas (Berdal and Malone 108). This piece of work looks at various liberation movements and their effect on the US Policy. As stated earlier, there has been formation of a number of liberation movements each of them having different impacts on different aspects.

Some of them have lasted for a relatively long period of time and achieved their mission and vision while others have only existed for a short period of time. There have been a lot of terms and definitions that have been put forth with respect to liberation movements. For instance, they have been referred to as rebel movements, non-state armed groups, insurgencies among other terms. Some definitions tend to be relatively narrow while others are very extensive. The difference in definitions has been as a result of the difference in these group’s structure, goals and objectives and well as their geopolitical environment.

However, a general definition that has been put forward for the resistance and liberation movements states that they are groups that have a hierarchical organization that acts as a command tool, are independent from state control, they use violence to attain political ends and have a certain level of territorial power over a given geographical area (Bruderlein 17). Some of the liberation movements that will be discussed in this paper include FARC, Hamas, Hezbollah and Basque Separatist. FARC FARC stand for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia.

It was founded in the year 1964. It is ranked as the largest, oldest, best equipped and most capable Latin America’s insurgency. It was established as a military wing linked with the Columbian Communist Party. It is of Marxist origin. Currently, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia concentrates in fighting for the achievement of the Marxist goals. Columbia is the primary country of operation of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia. However it undertakes some other activities in its neighboring nations for instance acquisition of weapons, extortion, kidnapping, as well as logistics among others (The National Counterterrorism Center par 1).

As a resistance and liberation movement, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia employs different tactics in an effort to achieve its goals and objectives against Columbia military, economic as well as political targets. Some of the tactics include murder, extortion, bombing, kidnapping, revolutionary and conventional military action as well as hijacking. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia is also well known in its indulgence in drug trafficking related activities for example its cultivation, distribution and taxation.

The main factor that has led to the consideration of the US persons as being legitimate military targets is the fact that the United States fully supports the Columbian government. Although the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia has had some successes in its activities, it has also faced a lot of challenges that have undermined its powers thus affecting its capability to undertake its activities, as desired against the Columbian government and the United States of America at large. In the year 2009 for example, the group lost a