COIN in a non-state environment

[Stan]

Thanks for a very interesting observation and some of the parallels that are not too often evident.

This is an interesting discussion!

I would like people to consider an alternative view, however, that Afghanistan is not so different from these African "states." In particular, there is this comment from Bob:

As my experiences in Afghanistan were rather limited to a direct support mission and out in the boonies, nation building and COIN were not part of our goals or worries.

I will say however, that much of what I learned in Africa applied relatively well in Afghanistan when dealing with the general population. What was also evident then (2001 - 2005), was the extent of any governance. Once out of the capital, there was none other than what the local populace considered and manipulated.

In my opinion our money, our combat power and our large footprint masks this reality and provides the illusion that we have created governance - a state - in Afghanistan and that protecting that government requires COIN since, by definition, insurgency is opposition to a government. In reality we have, to put it simply, taken sides in a civil war and our failures there are rooted in our inability to consider and acknowledge this reality. This is something the Pakistani's understand which is partly why support for their "side" continues despite a decade of complaints by us.

This may be where there is only a slight semblance of comparison as the USA has yet to literally invade and occupy Africa. Although much of the lessons from the French and Belg are clear (which is what M-A was pointing out). If we have no intent on staying for the long haul, better to perhaps rethink our options. Our missions there were very short-term. expensive and painful - one would have thought we were tired of liking our wounds, or, get real with the cultural realities - when in Rome !

I'm about as far from being an expert on Africa as one can be, but I see a lot of parallels between Afghanistan and Africa, the main one being how borders were drawn and how unnatural those borders are to the people who actually live there.

Couldn't have put it better myself
But, I think you touch on an area that most of us "Africa Hands" often complain about when sent reinforcements or replacements.

There are obviously some very proven and unpopular methods at work, and I won't pretend to know what to do with COIN or nation building in such an inhospitable place like Sub-Sahara.