The Age of Counterinsurgency

Spencer Ackerman, Joshua Foust, Anastasia Moloney | World Politics Review | 2009-05-31

America's bitter experience in Iraq and Afghanistan has elevated a generation of counterinsurgents to positions of influence in Washington. But how well will their theories apply to Afghanistan? And what can America's COIN practitioners learn from Colombia's ongoing campaign against the FARC? WPR examines The Age of Counterinsurgency.

Counterinsurgents in the Halls of Power
By Spencer Ackerman
A generation of theorist-practitioners of counterinsurgency warfare has emerged to reach a new height of influence in the shaping of American foreign policy. Now that they are firmly installed in the Obama administration's national security team, will the counterinsurgents check U.S. military excesses or exacerbate them?

The FARC's Last Stand
By Anastasia Moloney
Colombia's southern provinces are the front line in the U.S.-backed counterinsurgency campaign against the FARC, the site of daily clashes between government troops and rebel guerrillas. It is here, in the jungle that serves as a strategic corridor, that Colombia's largest guerrilla group clings to its last stronghold.

Kapisa Province: A COIN Case Study in Afghanistan
By Joshua Foust
Since 2005, Kapisa Province has been the site of several waves of U.S. counterinsurgency operations. Each has been lauded as a success, yet the problems facing Kapisa remain, and in some cases are worse than before the operations began. Clearly, something needs fixing in the way the U.S. military measures and maintains its successes.

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