The Future of the Afghan Insurgency

Abstract

Since the fall of the Taliban in November of 2001, the insurgency in Afghanistan has undergone a metamorphosis. Once written off as defeated, the Taliban are staging a comeback. Aided to a large degree by the sanctuary provided by refuges in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in Pakistan, the Taliban have survived the initial onslaught of Coalition forces and begun a re-emergence as a viable political and military opposition to the democratically elected Karzai government in Kabul. This re-birth is the result of both a political and military vacuum throughout the country, and exploitation of Pashtun tribal fissures, particularly in the south, by the Taliban. Additionally, the Taliban have implemented a revised military strategy which, although unique to Afghanistan, has adopted some of the more successful tactics of Iraqi insurgents. The purpose of this paper is to examine these recent developments and forecast trends to determine the potential implications on future Coalition military and political strategy.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 29, 2007
Accession Number
ADA469624

Entities

People

  • Paul T. Seitz

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Ammunition
  • Combat Operations
  • Education
  • Ethnic Groups
  • Governments
  • Information Operations
  • Insurgency
  • Joint Military Activities
  • Judiciary
  • Man Borne Improvised Explosive Devices
  • Military Operations
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • United States
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.
  • Strategic Security Studies