Revisiting Counterinsurgency

Among many others, see John Nagl , Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2002); and Thomas Ricks , Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq (New York: Penguin, 2006). For an official statement of U.S. counterinsurgency strategy and tactics, see U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army-Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual ( Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007).

Douglas Blaufarb , The Counterinsurgency Era: U.S. Doctrine and Performance, 1950 to the Present (New York: Free Press, 1977).

D. Michael Shafer , "The Unlearned Lessons of Counterinsurgency," Political Science Quarterly 103, no. 1 (1988): 57-80.

Stephen Hosmer , The Army’s Role in Counterinsurgency and Insurgency (Santa Monica, CA: RAND , 1990); Steven Metz , The Future of Insurgency (Carlisle, PA: U.S. Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, 1993); Thomas Mockaitis , "A New Era of Counterinsurgency," RUSI Journal 136, no. 1 (1991): 73-78.

William Rosenau , "Subversion and Terrorism: Understanding and Countering the Threat," in The Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism Annual 2006 ( Oklahoma City, OK: National Memorial for the Prevention of Terrorism), 53-54.

David Kilcullen , "Counterinsurgency Redux," undated paper available on Small Wars Journal Web site, http://smallwarsjournal.com/documents/kilcullen1.pdf (accessed September 3, 2009), 1.

Nagl , Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife, xxii.

Warren Chin , "Examining the Application of British Counterinsurgency Doctrine by the American Army in Iraq," Small Wars and Insurgencies 18, no. 1 ( 2007): 1-26.

Ibid., 22.

U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army-Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual.

At the time of writing (fall 2009), it is uncertain whether the Obama administration will persevere with counterinsurgency in Afghanistan or switch to a strategy of selective targeting of Taliban leaders without counterinsurgency’s emphasis on the protection of the civilian population and the delivery of local services. Whether or not a shift in strategy occurs, advocates will continue to argue for counterinsurgency when the U.S. confronts future conflicts.

Aaron Karp and Regina Karp , "Preface: Towards a Science of Counterinsurgency," Contemporary Security Policy 28, no. 1 (2007): vi.

Stathis Kalvyas and Matthew Kocher , "How ‘Free’ is Free Riding in Civil Wars? Violence, Insurgency, and the Collective Action Problem," World Politics 59, no. 2 (2007): 177-216.

David Kilcullen , The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One ( Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2009).

Stephen Biddle , "Iraq after the Surge," statement before the House Armed Services Committee, 110th Congress (2nd Session), January 23, 2008.

David Kilcullen in George Packer , "Knowing the Enemy," The New Yorker, December 18, 2006.

Roberto Gonzalez , American Counterinsurgency: Human Science and the Human Terrain ( Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press, 2009).

"After Smart Weapons, Smart Soldiers," The Economist, October 27, 2007, 33-36.

U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) , "Questions and Answers about AFRICOM," http://www.africom.mil/africomFAQs.asp (accessed October 5, 2009).