Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the 21st Century: Reconceptualizing Threat and Response

Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the 21st Century: Reconceptualizing Threat and Response PDF Author:
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428910352
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 51

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Book Description
Insurgency has existed throughout history but ebbed and flowed in strategic significance. Today the world has entered another period when insurgency is common and strategically significant. This is likely to continue for at least a decade, perhaps longer. As the United States confronts this threat, extrapolating old ideas, strategies, doctrine, and operational concepts is a recipe for ineffectiveness. Reconceptualization is needed. The strategic salience of insurgency for the United States is higher than it has been since the height of the Cold War. But insurgency remains challenging for the United States because two of its dominant characteristics--protractedness and ambiguity-- mitigate the effectiveness of the American military. Furthermore, the broader U.S. national security organization is not optimized for counterinsurgency support. Ultimately, a nation is only as good at counterinsurgency support as its weakest link, not its strongest. Existing American strategy and doctrine focus on national insurgencies rather than liberation ones. As a result, the strategy stresses selective engagement; formation of a support coalition if possible; keeping the American presence to a minimum level to attain strategic objectives; augmenting the regime's military, intelligence, political, informational, and economic capabilities; and, encouraging and shaping reform by the regime designed to address shortcomings and the root causes of the insurgency. The key to success is not for the U.S. military to become better at counterinsurgency, but for the U.S. military (and other elements of the government) to be skilled at helping local security and intelligence forces become effective at it.

Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the 21st Century: Reconceptualizing Threat and Response

Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the 21st Century: Reconceptualizing Threat and Response PDF Author:
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428910352
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 51

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Book Description
Insurgency has existed throughout history but ebbed and flowed in strategic significance. Today the world has entered another period when insurgency is common and strategically significant. This is likely to continue for at least a decade, perhaps longer. As the United States confronts this threat, extrapolating old ideas, strategies, doctrine, and operational concepts is a recipe for ineffectiveness. Reconceptualization is needed. The strategic salience of insurgency for the United States is higher than it has been since the height of the Cold War. But insurgency remains challenging for the United States because two of its dominant characteristics--protractedness and ambiguity-- mitigate the effectiveness of the American military. Furthermore, the broader U.S. national security organization is not optimized for counterinsurgency support. Ultimately, a nation is only as good at counterinsurgency support as its weakest link, not its strongest. Existing American strategy and doctrine focus on national insurgencies rather than liberation ones. As a result, the strategy stresses selective engagement; formation of a support coalition if possible; keeping the American presence to a minimum level to attain strategic objectives; augmenting the regime's military, intelligence, political, informational, and economic capabilities; and, encouraging and shaping reform by the regime designed to address shortcomings and the root causes of the insurgency. The key to success is not for the U.S. military to become better at counterinsurgency, but for the U.S. military (and other elements of the government) to be skilled at helping local security and intelligence forces become effective at it.

Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the 21st Century

Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the 21st Century PDF Author: Steven Metz
Publisher: Strategic Studies Institute U. S. Army War College
ISBN: 9781584871798
Category : Counterinsurgency
Languages : en
Pages : 43

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Book Description
Modern insurgency warfare presents fresh challenges for the United States, which must re-conceptualize its approach to fighting such conflicts. Because the dominant characteristics of insurgency--protractedness and ambiguity--effectively stymie the American military's approach to war, the United States needs to reorient its strategic thinking. The key to success is not for the U.S. military to become better at counterinsurgency, but for the U.S. military (and other elements of the government) to be skilled at helping local security and intelligence forces become effective at it. Adapting tactics and strategies to the realities on the ground is not only pragmatic, but also crucial to success.

Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the 21st Century

Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the 21st Century PDF Author: Steven Metz
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781463508517
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 52

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Book Description
Insurgency has existed throughout history but ebbed and flowed in strategic significance. Today the world has entered another period when insurgency is common and strategically significant. This is likely to continue for at least a decade, perhaps longer. As the United States confronts this threat, extrapolating old ideas, strategies, doctrine, and operational concepts is a recipe for ineffectiveness. Reconceptualization is needed. The strategic salience of insurgency for the United States is higher than it has been since the height of the Cold War. But insurgency remains challenging for the United States because two of its dominant characteristics--protractedness and ambiguity-- mitigate the effectiveness of the American military. Furthermore, the broader U.S. national security organization is not optimized for counterinsurgency support. Ultimately, a nation is only as good at counterinsurgency support as its weakest link, not its strongest. Existing American strategy and doctrine focus on national insurgencies rather than liberation ones. As a result, the strategy stresses selective engagement; formation of a support coalition if possible; keeping the American presence to a minimum level to attain strategic objectives; augmenting the regime's military, intelligence, political, informational, and economic capabilities; and, encouraging and shaping reform by the regime designed to address shortcomings and the root causes of the insurgency. The key to success is not for the U.S. military to become better at counterinsurgency, but for the U.S. military (and other elements of the government) to be skilled at helping local security and intelligence forces become effective at it. A strategy for countering a liberation insurgency must be different in some important ways. Specifically, it should include the rapid stabilization of the state or area using the appropriately sized force (but larger is usually better); a shift to minimum U.S. military presence as rapidly as possible; rapid creation of effective local security and intelligence forces; shifting the perception of the insurgency from a liberation one to a national one; encouraging sustained reform by the partner regime; and cauterization--the strengthening of states surrounding the state facing an insurgency. Sustained capability enhancement is crucial, even when the United States is not actively engaged in counterinsurgency. This includes leader development, wargaming, concept development, research and analysis, professional education, and focused training. Capability enhancement should include increasing the ability and willingness of regional states and other regional security organizations to provide counterinsurgency support, improved homeland security, and methods for early warning of insurgency, preventative actions, and the creation of early-stage support packages. The United States must make clear whether its approach to counterinsurgency is a strategy of victory or a strategy of containment, tailoring the response and method to the threat. A strategy of victory which seeks a definitive end makes sense when facing a national insurgency in which the partner government has some basis of legitimacy and popular support. In liberation insurgencies, though, a strategy of victory is a very long shot; hence a strategy of containment is the more logical one.

Encyclopedia of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency

Encyclopedia of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency PDF Author: Spencer C. Tucker
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1610692802
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 710

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Book Description
A fascinating look at the insurgencies and counterinsurgencies throughout history with a concentration on the 20th and 21st centuries. This encyclopedia examines insurgencies—and the counterinsurgency efforts they prompt—through history, addressing military actions and the techniques and technologies employed in each conflict, significant insurgency leaders, and the leading theorists, with emphasis on the "small wars" of the 20th century and most recent decades. The clear, concise entries provide a breadth of coverage that ranges from the Maccabean Revolt in 168–143 BCE and the Peasants' Revolt in Germany in the 1500s to the American Revolutionary War and the ongoing insurgency in Syria. Readers will gain a solid understanding of how insurgency warfare and counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy has played a key role in the U.S. conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq in the early 21st century, and grasp how this important military strategy has evolved during modern times.

Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the Nineteenth Century

Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the Nineteenth Century PDF Author: Mark Lawrence
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9780367610500
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the Nineteenth Century examines insurgency and counterinsurgency across the globe in the nineteenth century. The volume includes chapters from distinguished and rising historians from Europe, North and South America and covers irregular wars in Spain, Ireland, France, Latin America, China, USA, Africa, Central Asia and Burma. The authors explore links between insurgencies and nationalism, including learning curves and emulation in counterinsurgency. With a special emphasis on non-Western warfare, this volume includes case studies such as the Katanga and White Lotus rebellions largely unknown to Western readers. The military history of the nineteenth century thus reveals much more than the symmetrical warfare of Napoleon, Grant and Moltke. This volume shows the commonalities of responses more than their differences and refracts these through themes which crop up repeatedly in different times and places. These themes include common problems and solutions: the challenge of commanding local intelligence networks; public opinion; millenarianism, magic and religion; technology; 'hearts and minds'; the legal framework of state violence; racial stereotypes and patterns of forgetting and remembering guerrilla conflicts. The first recent study to examine Western and non-Western warfare in equal measure, stressing the prevalence of commonalities between guerrilla warfare and counterinsurgency across the globe, Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the Nineteenth Century will be of great interest to scholars of military and strategic studies, as well as modern military history. It was originally published as a special issue of Small Wars & Insurgencies.

Encyclopedia of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency

Encyclopedia of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency PDF Author: Spencer Tucker
Publisher: ABC-CLIO
ISBN: 1610692799
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A fascinating look at the insurgencies and counterinsurgencies throughout history with a concentration on the 20th and 21st centuries. This encyclopedia examines insurgencies—and the counterinsurgency efforts they prompt—through history, addressing military actions and the techniques and technologies employed in each conflict, significant insurgency leaders, and the leading theorists, with emphasis on the "small wars" of the 20th century and most recent decades. The clear, concise entries provide a breadth of coverage that ranges from the Maccabean Revolt in 168–143 BCE and the Peasants' Revolt in Germany in the 1500s to the American Revolutionary War and the ongoing insurgency in Syria. Readers will gain a solid understanding of how insurgency warfare and counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy has played a key role in the U.S. conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq in the early 21st century, and grasp how this important military strategy has evolved during modern times.

Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the Nineteenth Century

Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the Nineteenth Century PDF Author: Mark Lawrence
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000208575
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the Nineteenth Century examines insurgency and counterinsurgency across the globe in the nineteenth century. The volume includes chapters from distinguished and rising historians from Europe, North and South America and covers irregular wars in Spain, Ireland, France, Latin America, China, USA, Africa, Central Asia and Burma. The authors explore links between insurgencies and nationalism, including learning curves and emulation in counterinsurgency. With a special emphasis on non-Western warfare, this volume includes case studies such as the Katanga and White Lotus rebellions largely unknown to Western readers. The military history of the nineteenth century thus reveals much more than the symmetrical warfare of Napoleon, Grant and Moltke. This volume shows the commonalities of responses more than their differences and refracts these through themes which crop up repeatedly in different times and places. These themes include common problems and solutions: the challenge of commanding local intelligence networks; public opinion; millenarianism, magic and religion; technology; ‘hearts and minds’; the legal framework of state violence; racial stereotypes and patterns of forgetting and remembering guerrilla conflicts. The first recent study to examine Western and non-Western warfare in equal measure, stressing the prevalence of commonalities between guerrilla warfare and counterinsurgency across the globe, Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the Nineteenth Century will be of great interest to scholars of military and strategic studies, as well as modern military history. It was originally published as a special issue of Small Wars & Insurgencies.

Anthropology and Global Counterinsurgency

Anthropology and Global Counterinsurgency PDF Author: John D. Kelly
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226429954
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 406

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Book Description
Global events of the early twenty-first century have placed new stress on the relationship among anthropology, governance, and war. Facing prolonged insurgency, segments of the U.S. military have taken a new interest in anthropology, prompting intense ethical and scholarly debate. Inspired by these issues, the essays in Anthropology and Global Counterinsurgency consider how anthropologists can, should, and do respond to military overtures, and they articulate anthropological perspectives on global war and power relations. This book investigates the shifting boundaries between military and civil state violence; perceptions and effects of American power around the globe; the history of counterinsurgency doctrine and practice; and debate over culture, knowledge, and conscience in counterinsurgency. These wide-ranging essays shed new light on the fraught world of Pax Americana and on the ethical and political dilemmas faced by anthropologists and military personnel alike when attempting to understand and intervene in our world.

Countering Terrorism and Insurgency in the 21st Century

Countering Terrorism and Insurgency in the 21st Century PDF Author: James J. F. Forest
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Insurgency and Counterinsurgency

Insurgency and Counterinsurgency PDF Author: Jeremy Black
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442256338
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
This timely book offers a world history of insurgencies and of counterinsurgency warfare. Jeremy Black moves beyond the conventional Western-centric narrative, reaching back to antiquity to trace the pre-modern origins of war within states. His sweeping study will be essential reading for all students of military history.