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Counter-insurgency

American Jihad

Bruce Hoffman | Apr 20, 2010
Al-Qaeda has accomplished the unthinkable: establishing an embryonic recruitment, radicalization and operational capacity on our shores. Our current strategy risks another 9/11.

Curse of the Khyber Pass

Milton Bearden | Mar 12, 2009
Afghanistan is a losing battle. Former-CIA officer Milton Bearden argues the Obama administration should turn to the provinces for answers—and consider arming the militias. Full article 

The Art of Petraeus

T. X. Hammes | Oct 30, 2008
There is no doubt that General Petraeus’s strategies salvaged Iraq. His successes, however, mask a vital policy debate about the future of our armed services.

Afghan Awakening

Bing West | Oct 30, 2008
Can Kabul be saved? More troops are on the way, but a one-size-fits-all surge is not enough. We also need to change our tactics.

Making the Grade: From A to F, How the U.S. Measures Up in its Struggle Against Global Extremism

Lee H. Hamilton
Bruce Hoffman
Brian Michael Jenkins
Paul R. Pillar
Xavier Raufer
Walter Reich
Fernando Reinares
| Feb 29, 2008
The results are in. Did the United States pass the test? Leading terrorism experts hand in their marks on U.S. efforts.

Three Years and You're Out

Steven Metz | Jan 02, 2008
If you can't beat 'em, keep trying to beat 'em? The United States needs a new counterinsurgency strategy—and soon.
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Commentary

Collapse Imminent in Afghanistan

Marvin G. Weinbaum | Apr 21, 2011
With the Taliban waiting in the wings, withdrawing too early could trigger a disaster.

The Defense Exports

Nikolas K. Gvosdev | Oct 10, 2010
A new approach bridges the debate over whether America should prepare for counterinsurgencies versus large-scale armed conflicts.

Yemen: Ten Years After the USS Cole Bombing

Christopher Boucek | Oct 10, 2010
Al-Qaeda's offshoot in Yemen is now more dangerous than the original.
More Commentary

Blogs

The Heroes of COIN

Joshua Rovner | Mar 12, 2012
State building is a nasty business. Those who think it's all about winning hearts and minds overlook the messy truth.

Playing to Our Strengths—and Why COIN Doesn’t

Christopher A. Preble | Jan 19, 2012
America doesn't do nation building well. It's time for a new game plan.

Who's Supposed to be Winning the Hearts and Minds?

Paul R. Pillar | Aug 29, 2010
Karzai is grumbling about U.S. tactics again, even though he wants our forces to stay longer. Search and destroy, anyone?

Books & Reviews

In the Hall of the Vulcans

Anatol Lieven | Oct 25, 2011
We thought the lessons of Vietnam could never be unlearned. But Washington warmongering heeds no warnings, plunging America into the quagmires of Iraq and Afghanistan. The depths of dysfunction behind these decisions seemingly know no bounds.

A Warrior Ethos

Bing West | Jun 28, 2010
Counterinsurgency is not a cure-all. Local allegiances will always trump the might of the invader. Washington’s insistence that the troops turn Kabul into a functioning democracy will only erode the military's fighting spirit.

Raising Jihad

Andrew J. Bacevich | Mar 02, 2009
Instead of turning back Islamism, military interventions lead large swaths of local populations to pick up arms in defense of their homelands
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May 26, 2012