Review – Anatomy of a Bad Idea: COIN Best Practices
Nearly every question about how the U.S. Army came to be entangled in wars it knew better than to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan are answered by three excellent and complementary books.
The Truth About Human Terrain Teams: An Evidence-Based Response to Gian Gentile
The lessons to be learnt from HTT’s are important and should be studied because the past decade of war demands nothing less than our best to ensure the same mistakes are not repeated.
Review – Treading on Hallowed Ground
Inspired by the much-commented on resurgence of religion in IR, the contributors of this volume see something unusual about counterinsurgency operations when hallowed ground is involved.
An Open Rebuttal to Gian Gentile’s Article on Counterinsurgency
Gian Gentile’s article on COIN ignores literature that weigh stability and combat operations equally. The key failure of COIN has been not understanding how to integrate the multiple levels required.
Counterinsurgency: The Graduate Level of War or Pure Hokum?
The US Army’s counterinsurgency manual calls COIN the “graduate level of war.” But, the idea that enlightened soldiers were required to win a war is hokum.
Review – Insurgency in Chechnya and the North Caucasus
Schaefer delves into the breadth and depth of the Chechen-Russian conflict using his military expertise to offer a detailed examination of the conflict.
Review – US Special Forces and Counterinsurgency in Vietnam
Ives’ strange book tells and retells the same story about U.S. Special Forces and counterinsurgency, repeating traditional criticisms of U.S. strategy in Vietnam.
Review – A Fundamental Fear
In a proposed global context of Western hegemony Bobby Sayyid argues that Islamism falls outside the orbit of the West and represents the only available counter-hegemonic discourse to it.
Interview – Nick Pratt
Colonel Nick Pratt discuses successful counter-insurgency practices, the Obama administration’s drone program, women terrorists, and future international security threats.
Review – Counterinsurgency Warfare
David Galula’s classical 1964 work Counterinsurgency Warfare is one of the most cited and maligned works on the subject. A modern review of the book is necessary to dispel the myths surrounding it.
