Understanding the “IN” in COIN
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A scathing critique, entitled '‘Savior General’ Petraeus Gave Us the Wrong Bible;The fatal flaw in his vaunted counterinsurgency strategy' by an academic William Smith in The American Conservative.
It ends with:Link:http://www.theamericanconservative.c...e-wrong-bible/Unfortunately, for those who have backed U.S. military interventions, setting aside issues of history and culture is a part of the great appeal of the manual. Supporters tend to think in terms of abstract secular ideals, not concrete cultural obstacles. Understanding the yawning differences in culture between the U.S. and, for example, a Middle Eastern country, should give great pause to planners contemplating the invasion of a foreign nation. But it is precisely this pause and reflection that our military planners and policymakers have been lacking.
Last edited by davidbfpo; 10-23-2017 at 07:51 PM. Reason: 356,264v 26k up since last post
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Understanding the “IN” in COIN
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Post 1059 refers to a book published in 2017, namely Walter Ladwig's 'The Forgotten Front: Patron-Client Relationships in Counter Insurgency', I have just discovered a podcast when he spoke @ Kings War Studies (1hrs starts at 3 mins). It is worth listening to and is summarised:Link:https://www.facebook.com/WarStudies/...4732894914595/Why has it been so difficult for the United States to effectively assist countries like Iraq and Afghanistan in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency? That's the question Walter Ladwig asks in his new book, The Forgotten Front: Patron-Client Relationships in Counterinsurgency (Cambridge University Press 2017), which analyzes the often-fraught political relationship between the U.S. government and a local regime it is attempting to advise and support in its conflict against terrorist and insurgent groups. Although a patron and its client are often presumed to be partners in such an endeavour, in this study of American interventions in the Philippines, Vietnam, and El Salvador during the Cold War, Ladwig details the stark differences of preferences and priorities that can exist between them. This often means the U.S. must give as much attention to modifying the behavior of its local partner as it does to countering the insurgents.
In conversation with Deborah Haynes, defense correspondent for The Times, he discussed the challenges of intervening in internal conflicts and how the United States can best exert influence over a government it is supporting in counterinsurgency to change their policies.
He is political scientist, not a historian and his website is:http://www.walterladwig.com/
The book has several 5* reviews:https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Fro...ter+Insurgency
Last edited by davidbfpo; 02-22-2018 at 08:19 PM. Reason: 378,713v 22k since Oct '17
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