Exile, safe havens and rear bases: external sanctuaries and the transnational dimension of late colonial insurgencies and counter-insurgencies

Scholars have increasingly turned their attention to the transnational dimensions of late colonial insurgencies. Their research has helped shed new light on the diplomatic activities of anti-colonial movements, the responses of the international community of states, and the role of non-state solidarity movements both East and West of the Iron Curtain and in the nascent ‘Third World’. Few, however, have examined the other ways in which liberation movements used external places and spaces to further their strategic goals, or the manner in which the transnational dimension of late colonial insurgencies affected counter-insurgent strategies. This chapter seeks to address this gap in our understanding of colonial insurgencies and counter-insurgencies. It will do so by (a) examining how anti-colonial movements made use of external exile, safe havens and rear bases in order to aid and abet internal insurgent action, and (b) assessing how these activities encumbered colonial counter-insurgency efforts. The chapter will focus primarily on the Algerian war of independence, which became a model for subsequent liberation struggles. It will situate the Algerian case study within a wider framework in order to identify patterns in practice. Ultimately, the chapter will argue that resort to external sanctuary proved a vital asset to the survival and success of many liberation movements during the late colonial era.