Interesting piece david - and that lesson has moved into Afghanistan as well (despite at least one spectacular failure). The Brits are doing some interesting work there; I wonder whether that was a British response to Karzai's efforts to bring less extreme elements of the Taleban into the fold, or whether the British have been proposing this to their allies who have subsequently found it to be worth a try.

Couple this to having US Marines, with their institutional tradition of Small Wars, in place, and it makes for a potent approach to COIN. Now if only we could have those same Marines enforcing Brit negotiating efforts in Afghanistan...