This book uses the frameworks of networked and complex insurgencies as discussed within the fields of criminology and strategic studies to explore FARC as a 'commercial insurgency'. Traditional dominant narratives tend to explain the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in a rather reductionist and simplistic manner. They either portray the organization as a criminal entity whose interest in profiting from the drug market eroded its original political motivation; or as a terrorist organization interested only in sabotaging the Colombian system, in the absence of a real internal conflict with belligerent parties. Especially since the attacks of 9-11 and the administration of Alvaro Uribe in Colombia, the concept of 'narcoterrorism' became popularly used to describe the organization's nature. The present book attempts to explain the Columbian insurgency not as a monolith, but as a group of individuals with diversified interests ranging from the highly indoctrinated to the drug-dealer, as part of the same entity. From the perspective of networked and complex insurgencies other dimensions of FARC that have remain relatively unexplored are studied more easily: its political institutions, the permeation of Colombian communities, its adaptation to the strong military offensive during the 2010s, its transformation into a political movement, its international dimension and its possible future after the Havana agreement. The aim is to propose new narratives about the organization, beyond simplistic and reductionist perspectives like those of narcoterrorism, and more comprehensive explanations of FARC's presence through Latin America than simply alliances with Bolivarian regimes. Although other authors like Eduardo Pizarro have referred to networks to explain the organization, no other efforts have been done to explain the insurgency in a more rigorous fashion from this perspective.

The contribution to the explanation of those unexplored areas of the insurgency is significant. Although the book is mainly about FARC it is also a contribution for the study of other similar organizations and non-state actors. This work will be of much interest to students of insurgencies, military and strategic studies, area studies, criminology, security studies and IR.