Reflections on the Counter-Insurgency Era
08.19.2013 at 01:15pm
Reflections on the Counter-Insurgency Era – General David Petraeus, RUSI Journal.
Abstract: This June, General David H Petraeus (Rtd) became the 35th recipient of the RUSI Chesney Gold Medal, awarded by the Institute to mark both his role in devising and implementing the US counter-insurgency doctrine that was used to such great effect in the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his distinguished lifetime service and contribution to international defence and security. In his acceptance speech – an edited version of which is presented here – General Petraeus reflects on the ‘Counter-Insurgency Era’ of the past decade and draws lessons for the future.
In this article General Petraeus provides a perfect summation of the counterinsurgency narrative.
Insurgency and counterinsurgency today are often viewed within the context of a challenge — not to states — but to the current world order.
Herein one sees, for example, Al Qaeda, a non-state actor, challenging the hegemon (the United States), whose political, economic, military, and cultural power maintains that world order.
Thus in such countries as Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Libya and Mali, Al Qaeda challenges the United States — and the world order it maintains — indirectly, through its (the USA’s) perceived partner governments?
Accordingly, the conflicts occurring within the “counter-insurgency era” (or the so-called “era of persistent conflict”) to be seen — not in such terms as “domestic struggles for power and influence,” etc. — but as challenges to the United States in its hegemonic governing role.
This requiring the United States to bolster the capabilities of its partner governments (see nation-building; building partner capacity) so as to meet and overcome these challenges.
Thus, not insurgency and counter-insurgency on the small-scale state level, but insurgency and counter-insurgency writ large, to wit: on a global scale and as relates to the governing capability (or lack thereof) of the current governing hegemon (the United States); whose credibility, capability, capacity, commitment and legitimacy in this relatively new role is now being tested.
Petraeus and Nagl possibly seeing things in this light?
People interested in the study of societies point how eastern societies often accept a cyclical view of life (don’t worry, a chance missed will come around again) while western societies primarily adopt a linear concept of life (an opportunity past will not return). It is interesting how “eastern” counterinsurgency is, i.e. how often the same issues come around again and again. I recently gathered my thoughts and those of some other on-the-ground counterinsurgency advisors from Vietnam and asked for their reflections and “lessons learned.” I think those lessons, if paid attention to, would save a lot of wasted resource including American lives. If you will forgive an advertisement, those thoughts have been recently released in a book the readers of this blog might find interesting. It is War of a Kind:Reflections on Counterinsurgency and Those who do it by David Donovan. It was recently released by PubGreen as an ebook on all major ebook stores. Take a look, if you’re interested.
David Donovan