ADA Basic Officer Leader Course (BOLC) Module A Practice Test

Non-state actors are groups or individuals that operate in political or security arenas without being part of a government. They’re not official government entities, yet they can influence conflicts, policy, or stability through actions outside formal state control. Terrorists, insurgents, drug-traffickers, and criminals fit this description because they operate independently of government authority. Foreign governments and military units are parts of a state's power structure, deriving legitimacy from the government, so they’re considered state actors. International organizations are created by states and, while they operate across borders, are composed of member states rather than being sovereign actors in their own right; they’re not typically classified as non-state actors in the same sense. Therefore, the non-state actors are the groups listed in the first set.