Recent Publications - Tag counterinsurgency

Resolving Insurgencies
June 1, 2011 — Author: Dr Thomas R Mockaitis Understanding how insurgencies may be brought to a successful conclusion is vital to military strategists and policymakers. This study examines how past insurgencies have ended and how current ones may be resolved. Four ways in which insurgencies have ended are identified. Clear-cut victories for either the government... MORE

How Smart Economic Strategy Could Strengthen the Afghan Counterinsurgency
February 10, 2011 — Dr. Leif Rosenberger Without question, the war in Afghanistan is a formidable challenge for the U.S. The success or failure of the counterinsurgency strategy that General Petraeus is implementing in Afghanistan will ultimately take years to determine. However, General Petraeus is absolutely correct on one critical point: there is no purely military... MORE

Some of the Best Weapons for Counterinsurgents Do Not Shoot
October 1, 2010 — Author: Maj Gen Eric T Olson Even under the best circumstances, reconstruction in counterinsurgency is a difficult endeavor. The most critical tasks are numerous and complex. Many participating agencies must undertake missions that fall well out of their existing core competencies or operate in environments that are completely unfamiliar to them... MORE

Cover for Some of the Best Weapons for Counterinsurgents Do Not Shoot

David Galula: His Life and Intellectual Context
August 1, 2010 — Author: Ms Ann Marlowe This monograph is based on interviews with David Galula’s surviving family and friends as well as archival research. It places Galula’s two great books in the context of his exposure to Mao’s doctrine of revolutionary warfare in China, the French Army’s keen interest in counterinsurgency in the second half of the 1950s, and... MORE

Shades of CORDS in the Kush: The False Hope of “Unity of Effort” in American Counterinsurgency
April 1, 2010 — Author: Mr Henry Nuzum Counterinsurgency (COIN) requires an integrated military, political, and economic program best developed by teams that field both civilians and soldiers. These units should operate with some independence but under a coherent command. In Vietnam, after several false starts, the United States developed an effective unified... MORE

Counternarcotics Operations in Afghanistan: The COIN of the Realm
April 1, 2010 — Author: COL Louis H Jordan Jr In this Op-Ed style document, COL Louis Jordan discusses the narcotics industry in Afghanistan—calling it what it is—a commercial enterprise, which is exceedingly important because it provides strength to the insurgency while at the same time keeping the Afghan government weak by fueling instability and corruption... MORE

Transnational Insurgencies and the Escalation of Regional Conflict: Lessons for Iraq and Afghanistan
March 1, 2010 — Author: Dr Idean Salehyan Many insurgents groups benefit from sanctuaries in neighboring countries where they are relatively safe from state security forces. These transnational insurgencies complicate traditional counterinsurgency operations in significant ways. Most importantly, transnational insurgencies have the potential to spark conflicts... MORE

War’s Second Grammar
October 1, 2009 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the October 2009 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Iraq: Strategic Reconciliation, Targeting, and Key Leader Engagement
September 1, 2009 — Author: Capt Jeanne F Hull Discussion of Key Leader Engagements (KLE) as a nonlethal option for countering insurgent organizations. Outreach to insurgent organizations through KLE can be both an economy of force measure and, in some circumstances, could be more effective than engaging insurgent organizations with lethal force. The challenge with... MORE

Provincial Reconstruction Teams: How Do We Know They Work?
March 1, 2009 — Author: Dr Carter Malkasian, Dr Gerald Meyerle Over the past 6 years, provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) have played a growing role in the U.S. counterinsurgency effort in Afghanistan. PRTs are one of several organizations working on reconstruction there, along with civilian development agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International... MORE

Real Change or Retrenchment?
August 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Douglas V Johnson II Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the August 2008 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Baloch Nationalism and the Geopolitics of Energy Resources: The Changing Context of Separatism in Pakistan
April 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Robert J Wirsing The author examines the energy context of the simmering Baloch separatist insurgency that has surfaced in recent years in Pakistan’s sprawling Balochistan province. In particular, he looks at how Pakistan’s mounting energy insecurity--a product of rapid increase in demand coupled with rising scarcity and the region’s... MORE