U.S. Government Counterinsurgency Guide
Abstract
United States has engaged in prolonged counterinsurgency campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has supported many other friendly governments facing internal subversion around the globe. In so doing it has relearned old lessons, and forged new methods and concepts for the stabilization of moderate, freedom-oriented governments. This Guide distills the best of contemporary thought, historical knowledge, and hard-won practice. It is the best kind of doctrinal work: intellectually rigorous, yet practical. Insurgency will flourish in the modern environment. The strains created by globalization, by the collapse of weak state structures, by demographic, environmental, and economic pressures, by the ease of cooperation among insurgent groups/criminals, and by the appearance of destructive radical ideologies, all augur a period in which free and moderate governance is at risk. In today's world, state failure can quickly become not merely a misfortune for local communities, but a threat to global security. Whether the United States should engage in any particular counterinsurgency is a matter of political choice, but that it will engage in such conflicts during the decades to come is a near certainty. The guide will serve best if treated not as a rigidly defined set of recipes, but rather, as a stimulus to disciplined, but creative thought.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 13, 2009
- Accession Number
- AD1147993
Entities
People
- Eliot A. Cohen
Organizations
- United States Department of State