Interview with Dr. John Arquilla
Interview with Dr. John Arquilla:
How can French Encounters with Irregular Warfare in the 19th Century Inform COIN in our time?
by Michael Few
Download the Full Article: Interview with Dr. John Arquilla
To complement the recent interviews conducted by Octavian Manea, we asked the faculty of the Department of Defense Analysis (DA) at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA to weigh in on the on-going conversation over the need and/or utility of rethinking modern counterinsurgency theory. This department provides mid-career, postgraduate instruction to the Special Operations Community. The Department of Defense Analysis is an interdisciplinary association of faculty, representing a wide range of academic and operational specialties. The Special Operations curriculum provides a focused course of instruction in irregular warfare, sub-state conflict, terrorism and counterterrorism, information operations, and other “high leverage” operations in U.S. defense and foreign policy. This interview with Dr. John Arquilla begins our series with the department.
How can French Encounters with Irregular Warfare in the 19th Century Inform COIN in our time?
Three of the most important concepts in counterinsurgency today have to do with the use of information operations, the role of swarm tactics in battle, and the need to understand how networks fight — and how to build networks of one’s own. There is precious little discussion of any of these points in our own and others’ doctrinal manuals and theoretical works on counterinsurgency. So, to build some theory and provide a basis for action, some data mining of earlier history is called for.
Download the Full Article: Interview with Dr. John Arquilla
Dr. John Arquilla has been teaching in the special operations program at the Naval Postgraduate School since 1993. The themes covered in his comments above — and many other ideas — are developed further in his forthcoming book, Insurgents, Raiders, and Bandits (due spring 2011). Additionally, John has authored Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy and co-authored The Three Circles of War: Understanding the Dynamics of Conflict in Iraq. For more on the threat of modern swarming techniques and tactics, see his recent opinion piece, US Not Prepared for Mumbai-like Terror Attacks, in the San Francisco Chronicle.
