3 March - Class 13: The Hardest of All Victories
A look at why the British succeeded at the tactical level in Malaya while the United States - contrary to common wisdom of “won the battles but lost the war: - failed to win battles in Vietnam.
- Blackboard reading:
- Colonel I.A. Rigden, OBE, The British Approach to Counter-Insurgency: Myths, Realities and Strategic Challenges.
- Excerpt from Michael McClintock, "Instruments of Statecraft", Ch. 11 - The Decolonization Conundrum & The Problem of Administration.
- Marston & Malkasian, Ch 2: Counterinsurgency in the Philippines.
- Marston & Malkasian, Ch 6: From Search and Destroy to Hearts and Minds: The Evolution of British Strategy in Malaya 1948-1960.
- Marston & Malkasian, Ch 7: Counterinsurgency in Vietnam: American Organizational Culture and Learning.
5 March - Class 14: Welcome to the Jungle
An intro to the tactical level of rural insurgencies. We will discuss the perpetual fear and uncertainty racing through the minds of soldiers in Malaya and Vietnam. We will also discuss challenges the insurgent faces and early, brute force attempts to subdue these insurgencies. Guest speaker (USMC).
- West, The Strongest Tribe, Appendix A.
- Blackboard reading:
o Michael Yon, Death in the Corn.
o Nagl, Ch 4 (59-85).
o Marston & Malkasian, Ch 8: Red Wolves and British Lions: The Conflict in Aden.
o Marston and Malkasian, Ch 12: Lessons in 21st-Century Counterinsurgency: Afghanistan 2001-07.
o NPR, Conversations: What's Next for Afghanistan?; with Sarah Chayes, November 17, 2008.
WEEKEND OF 6 MARCH: COIN FIELD EXERCISE
10 March - Class 15: Tactical Problem Set Review
Review of take-home problem sets and in-class problem-solving exercise.
12 March - Class 16: The Battle for the Afghan Countryside
Rural counterinsurgency also provides quite a different picture for commanders hunting the opposition. We will contrast the fight among Iraq's sophisticated urban population centers with the battles against the Taliban in one of the world's poorest countries.
- Rashid, Ch 7 (125-145).
- Blackboard reading:
o Sebastian Junger, Into the Valley of Death.
o Bo Kyi, Kilcullen on Afghanistan: "It's still winnable, but only just".
o Col. Patrick Donahue & LTC Michael Fenzel, Combating a Modern Insurgency: Combined Task Force Devil in Afghanistan.
SPRING BREAK
24 March - Class 17: The Graveyard of Empire
Afghanistan from the operational level. How battalions of 650-1,000 soldiers provide the crucial link between individual soldiers and grand strategy, and how they operate in rural environments.
- Rashid, Ch’s 12 (240-265), 15 (317-338).
- Blackboard readings:
o Dave Kilcullen, Twenty-Eight Articles.
o Except from Lester Grau, The Bear Went over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan.
o Excerpt from David Hackworth, Steel My Soldiers' Hearts.
26 March - Class 18: The Civilians Strike Back (non-violently, of course)
The development of infrastructure as a critical component of COIN and Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan.
- West, The Strongest Tribe, Ch 23(326 only), 24(338-341 only).
- Smith, Ch 5 (183-225).
- Rashid, Ch 9 (171-196).
- FM 3-24, Ch 2: Unity of Effort: Integrating Civilian and Military Activities (53-77).
- Blackboard reading:
o Excerpt from PRT Handbook.
o Excerpt from US Government Interagency Counterinsurgency Guide.
o Pamela Constable, Inexplicable Wealth of Afghan Elite Sows Bitterness.
31 March - Class 19: Operational Level Problem Sets
Review of take-home problem sets and in-class problem-solving exercise.
2 April - Class 20: The Pakistan Problem
How and why does Pakistan exercise influence in Afghanistan and the challenges of a failing nuclear state on the doorstep to an insurgency.
- Rashid, Ch’s 11 (pp.219-240), 13 (265-293).
- Blackboard Readings:
o Shuja Nawaz, Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within, Introduction (xxvii-xliii)
o LTC Marc Jamison "Sanctuaries: A Strategic Reality, An Operational Challenge".
o Reuel Marc Gerecht, Our Pakistan Problem.
7 April - Class 21: Losing Afghanistan?
Why is the United States losing ground in Afghanistan? We'll discuss the policy and resource constraints placed upon counterinsurgency campaigns.
- Rashid Ch 17 (349-373).
- Blackboard Readings:
o Gen Barry McCaffrey (Ret), Afghanistan After-Action Report.
o Anthony Cordesman, Losing the Afghan-Pakistan War.
o Except from Lester Grau, The Bear went over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan.
9 April - Class 22: Turning the Tide
How, and if, Afghanistan can be salvaged. Moreover, should it? A group discussion during which students are encouraged to refer to their readings of previous conflicts for possible courses of action in Afghanistan.
- FM 3-24, Ch 8: Sustainment (pp. 255-285).
- Smith, Ch. 9 (335-373).
- Rashid, Conclusion (374-405).
- Blackboard Readings:
o Vikram J. Singh and Nathaniel C. Fick, Surging Statecraft to Save Afghanistan.
o Anthony Cordesman, Winning the War in Afghanistan.
14 April - Class 23: Strategic Problem Set
Review of take-home problem sets and in-class problem solving exercise.
16 April - Class 24: Strategic Problem Set (cont'd)
In-class problem solving exercise continued.
21 April - Class 25: What Then is to be Our War
What is the new defense paradigm?
- Smith, Conclusion (pp. 374-415).
- Blackboard Readings:
o Jonathon Morgenstein and Eric Vickland, The Global Counterinsurgency.
o Dave Kilcullen, Countering Global Insurgency.
o Bruce Hoffman, The Myth of Grass-Roots Terrorism.
o Marc Sageman and Bruce Hoffman, Does Osama Still Call the Shots?
o Gian Gentile, Let's Build An Army to Win All Wars.
o John Nagl, Let's Win the Wars We're In.
23 April - Class 26: The Future of Warfare
From the Maginot Line to Cyber Warfare, the past teaches us that the present's popular predictions about the future of warfare are frequently wrong. What kind of person is best prepared to predict future conflicts? Through a final brainstorming session, we'll come up with scenarios that prove every assumption about warfare we've made during the past twenty-five classes invalid.
- Blackboard readings:
o Robert Kaplan, How We Would Fight China.
o Azar Gat, The Return of the Authoritarian Great Powers.
o Robert Gates
• Oxford Analytica Speech. September 19, 2008.
• Evening Lecture at the U.S. Military Academy, April 21, 2008.
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