A historical overview of US counter-insurgency

Paul B Rich

Small Wars and Insurgencies, 2014, vol. 25, issue 1, 5-40

Abstract: Say not the struggle naught availeth,The labour and the wounds are vain,The enemy faints not, nor faileth,And as things have been, things remain. Arthur Hugh CloughThis introductory article introduces some of the articles in this issue and examines the debate surrounding the idea of the “COINdinistas” in the US. It traces the roots of their approach to counter-insurgency and distinguishes “small c” counterinsurgency based on small groups of military advisers in “peripheral” conflicts from “big C” counter-insurgency which became allied to modernisation theory and nation building. The article also looks at developments in COIN thinking after the drawdown of US and other ISAF forces from Afghanistan, especially the work of David Kilcullen focussed on the emergence of future mega “feral” cities on coast lines vulnerable to terrorist and insurgent attacks.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1080/09592318.2014.893955

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