Choosing More Appropriate Tools to Understand the Population
Tribes and Afghanistan:
Choosing More Appropriate Tools to Understand the Population
by Paul Meinshausen and Dr. Schaun Wheeler
Download the full article: Choosing More Appropriate Tools to Understand the Population
This article makes the argument that intelligence preparation and strategy for counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan should not be based on assessments of tribe — ever. Tribal “affiliation,” “influence,” “identification,” and “dynamics” poorly correspond to actual local conditions. Information about tribes inaccurately and insufficiently assesses Local Population (LP) behavior and degrades ISAF’s ability to make appropriate decisions by distorting and obscuring real indicators of behavior. To understand and influence LP behavior in Afghanistan, ISAF should discontinue its focus on tribes and instead increase focus on the access to locations, resources, information, and expertise that constrain LP capabilities, and the availability of institutions, routines, face-to-face interactions, and costs and benefits that constrain LP intents.
Download the full article: Choosing More Appropriate Tools to Understand the Population
Paul Meinshausen is an intelligence specialist currently deployed to the Combined Joint Intelligence Operations Center – Afghanistan, at the International Security Assistance Force Headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan. A subject matter expert on interactions between local populations and insurgencies, he was a 2007-08 Fulbright Scholar in Turkey, and received an M.A. in Eurasian Studies from Middle East Technical University, Ankara.
Dr. Schaun Wheeler is a cognitive anthropologist for the Department of the Army, specializing in assessments of local populations and their effects on insurgent and counterinsurgent operations. He received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Connecticut.
The views presented here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the United States Department of Defense or its components.
