COIN Reading Lists (merged)

[Bob's World]

I highly recommend:

"1776" by David McCullough.
Very successful insurgents like Mao and Ho Chi Minh studied this insurgency very closely. This one year snapshot really does a great job of covering the play by play of a government making bad decisions in the face of a dissatisfied populace, and the resultant insurgency. Plus everyone needs to refresh themselves on who we are as Americans, and by studing the errors of our British "parents," we can hopefully break the cycle and not make the same mistakes they did as we find ourselves in very similar situations today.

Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory & Practice David Galula's

From theory to strategy to operations to tactics. A guy who gets it does a great job of breaking it down.

Lastly, unless you are a hardcore academic, I strongly urge you not to attempt to read and understand Clausewitz. This is in no way a criticism of my Prussian friend. To understand insurgency you must first seek to understand fundamental human dynamics, and THEN to understand war. The reasons why states wage war against each other and the dynamics of that are very different than the dynamics of why a populace wages war against its own government. This is one reason why conventional military forces often start off on the wrong foot when tasked to deal with an insurgency. They do what militarys do: Defeat the Threat. So I will respectfully disagree with WILF and COL G. as to "Clausewitz first."

(By the same token, I would never recommend to a Lieutenant or even a Captain to read Clausewitz either. Read what is relevant to your success at the level you are at. Read classics like "Platoon Leader" and "Company Commander"; hell read "Devils in Baggy Pants" and other great reads on small unit actions and leadership. Then read Galula and think about how you apply those leadership skills to an insurgency).

[Ken White]

a Corporal in 1952. Who knew I'd offend so many people. To make matters worse, it was the 1940s Maude translation and not Wilf's recommended Paret edition (after my time...).

[Brins]

For today's (and likely a LOT of tomnrow's) relevance, go to this site and search for "Milestones": http://web.youngmuslims.ca/

Tons of people have actually gone to Amazon and bought this...the great thing about the site, above, it you can also get links to places where people discuss Qutb. To me, that is even more valuable than the having a book between two pieces of paper.

As someone already mentioned, RAND has a lot of free info.

Another place, obvious, but strangely not often thought of is google books:

http://books.google.com/books?q=coun...G=Search+Books

This should get you to it.

Keep in mind that books are, by nature overcome by events. Therefore, if I were you, I'd also look at online journals, magazines, and such. These are much more timely, especially for college paper purposes. If you decide to suck it up and actually BUY some books (VERY highly recommended), I'd go to Barnes and Noble right now...they were having a HUGE sale on books, and a LOT were COIN-related.

One of the problems you will constantly run into is that the entire notion of COIN--most especially these days--is constantly gainining more and more of a database. Much of it is crap...the key is to find vetted authors. So, to develop good papers and good ideas, you will need to include research on the authors who write all of this stuff.

Do not let any of this discourage you, though. Keep in mind that many of the BEST practioners of COIN (and I'm begginning to HATE that term, by the way) were not even military men. In fact, a significant amount of insight can be gained through anthropological venues...probably even BETTER than the majority of "COIN Expert" books out there.

More than anything else--IMHO--the study of insurgency is about people and societies, and NOT about military arts. In fact, many who are/were acknowledged military experst have fallen (and will continue to fall) short when confronted with an insurgency dynamics.

One final note. As you look through all of this, you will likely begin to find more and more on "irregular warfare." Don't let this distract you because you risk getting lost in endless discussions of what, exactly, that term means.

Good luck!

[Cavguy]

Do not let any of this discourage you, though. Keep in mind that many of the BEST practioners of COIN (and I'm begginning to HATE that term, by the way) were not even military men. In fact, a significant amount of insight can be gained through anthropological venues...probably even BETTER than the majority of "COIN Expert" books out there.

Curious, who would you cite as civilian "best practitioners?" Case examples?

[ODB]

I have been curious the past few days about the number of colleges teaching COIN courses, who are the teachers? Do they have guest speakers? How can get on board to be one of the guest speakers?

Not questioning the ability of academics, but sometimes find it interesting that the so called experts have no practical experiences. Is this view point to harsh on academics?

[Ken White]

here and there on the ol' internet -- not too harsh, that is...

[John T. Fishel]

Cavguy, I nominate Ambassadors Deane Hinton, Tom Pickering, and Ed Corr, who, with their MILGP commanders and several Southcom CINCs, helped the Govt of El Salvador defeat the FMLN. Their civilian "counterparts" Presidents Jose Napoleon Duarte and Alfredo Cristiani (although he worked with Amb Bill Walker) were also outstanding civilian practitioners of COIN and FID/SFA.

ODB, I'm one of the guys who teaches a course on Small Wars/LIC which is COIN heavy. Next semester (Fall 09) I have funding for guest speakers. If you are really interested send me a resume by PM or email.

Cheers

JohnT

[Yank in Germany]

Don't confuse radical Islam and Afghanistan with COIN. Insurgency/terrorism is a tactic used by a weaker force against a stronger force. A few months ago I wrote a survey of COIN theory to include Galula, Thompson and others.
I enclosed it and would welcome any comments.

[SethB]

I have been curious the past few days about the number of colleges teaching COIN courses, who are the teachers? Do they have guest speakers? How can get on board to be one of the guest speakers?

Not questioning the ability of academics, but sometimes find it interesting that the so called experts have no practical experiences. Is this view point to harsh on academics?

I took an undergraduate capstone seminar with Yoav Gortzak. He was in the IDF for a few years in the 1990s and that gave him experience and perspective. He had some interesting stories.

We also had a Cavalry Scout who was at the same OCS board as I and a Marine 8541.

Interesting class.

[Pattonmat89]

I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to this thread, and all the suggestions that you've made. I now have some interesting things to read, and some new stuff to add to my to-be-read list.

Just to clear up a few things:

1. I asked for this because I wanted something to read, about a subject that I think is relevant to current military affairs. In other words, this is a pleasure read. Yes, I have strange ideas of pleasure.

2. I am actually a freshman, not a sophomore. So I'm even younger than you thought I was.

3. I have On War, though I have the Rapoport translation, not the Paret. Ah, well.

Any way, thanks.