After toppling the regime of Saddam Hussein in a few weeks, the decisive operational maneuver victory was not enough to defeat the enemy’s will to fight. Instead of challenging US forces in a conventional military battle, the enemy has now sought...
At the operational and strategic levels, military planners use the concepts of centers of gravity and decisive points to assist them in determining the best ways for accomplishing assigned tasks. By identifying the enemy's center of gravity, the...
Insurgency and counterinsurgencies differ from conventional warfare in that military strength alone cannot bring success. Insurgencies are "people's wars" as the insurgent forces are dependent on the population for manpower, intelligence,...
Controlling the population in any counterinsurgency is critical to the success of the counterinsurgent. Three historical theorists, Sir Robert Thompson, David Galula, and Robert Trinquier all agree on this pertinent issue. Success in Malaya hinged...
Does following the rule of law assist security forces in defeating an armed insurgency? If so, what factors assist or prevent security forces from conducting operations in accordance with rule of law principles? Counterinsurgency literature and...
This is a study about defeat, specifically addressing the question of whether and under what circumstances non-state actors will accept defeat. This study challenges conventional wisdom that victory and defeat have a reciprocal relationship....
Both the National Security Strategy and the National Defense Strategy recently recognized that insurgency is causing an increased threat to the security of the world. This recognition combined with the fact that the military’s counterinsurgency...
Senri nyumon (An Introduction to the Principles of War) is required reading for all Japan Ground Self-Defense Force officers. The book is one of the basic texts studied by Japanese officers in preparation for the highly competitive entrance exam to...
The problem is, valid but incompatible service theories of operational warfighting inhibit rather than promote jointness. One cause of this problem is the joint definition of the center of gravity, which is vague and ineffective. This monograph...
The United States military, as with any professional organization that is dedicated to be successful must reshape, restructure, reorganized, and transform in order to remain effective. The rationale and dynamic forces behind the initiation of...
Is the nature of winning at the operational level different than that of the tactical level? The author explores this question and determines that there is a fundamental difference that cannot be explained by the combat power model presented in FM...
Defeating an Insurgency: Balancing the Battlefield for a Counterinsurgency
Counterinsurgency operations have been conducted all over the world throughout history
and in many ways. Insurgencies can be very difficult to defeat if not planned in the...
In the wake of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, T.E. Lawrence's description of counterinsurgency (COIN) analogous to "eating soup with a knife," has new meaning in our contemporary military. It describes our kinetic conventional army (the knife)...
The purpose of this monograph is to explore the applicability of the model used by the Canadian Strategic Advisory Team to Afghanistan (SAT) as a potential model of a whole of government approach (WGA) applied in a multinational setting in order to...
Hezbollah has emerged as the most dangerous terrorist group in the world. It has about 25,000 active armed members and it can muster a million more in the streets. They are disciplined, highly trained, with incredibly lethal equipment and an...
The security force framework devised for prosecuting a counterinsurgency campaign is essential. A security framework identifies roles and responsibilities for the different organizations that comprise the overall counterinsurgent force. Part of...
The Luftwaffe's defeat of Allied airpower in the Kasserine Pass in 1943 imprinted the principle of mass upon the US Air Force's organizational psyche. The then Army Air Corps recognized the necessity of consolidating airpower under the command and...
This monograph discusses the role the American military instrument of power played in supporting the government of El Salvador during its battle against rebel forces during the period 1980-1992. The U.S. provided extensive military, political and...
The Nation has formulated a strategy for combating terrorism that places the U.S. Military in a significant role. Perhaps the most significant role for the military in this effort will be globally operationalizing the application of military power...
As a result of the Allied bombing campaign against Nazi submarine bases during the Second World War, the cities of Brest, Lorient, and Saint Nazaire were nearly completely destroyed. Despite thousands of bombing missions, all three submarine...