The People are Revolting’: An Anatomy of Authoritarian Counterinsurgency

[davidbfpo]

After a polite exchange on Twitter between different viewpoints this counter-argument article has been id'd: Why Democracies Make Superior Counterterrorists by Max Abrahams, in 2007, in the journal Security Studies. It available free:https://www.academia.edu/1593648/_Wh...2_Spring_2007_

[AmericanPride]

In my understanding of COIN theory as it exists today, there seems to be an underlying assumption that an insurgency can be 'neutralized' by aggressively targeting hearts and minds - i.e. that there's always an opportunity for diplomatic/political engagement. Is this perception accurate? With regards to the Russian Revolution mentioned above, and with 'authoritarian' insurgencies, it seems to me there comes a radicalization tipping point after which political overtures are futile.