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Article: Best practices in counterinsurgency.
- Article from:
- Military Review
- Article date:
- May 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 U.S. Army CGSC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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It is fashionable in some quarters to say that the problems in Southeast Asia are primarily political and economic rather than military. I do not agree. The essence of the problem in Vietnam is military.--General Earle Wheeler, 1962 (1)
WE CAN DISCERN "best practices" common to successful counterinsurgencies by studying the past century's insurgent wars. Historical analysis helps us understand the nature and continuities of insurgencies over time and in various cultural, political, and geographic settings. While this does not produce a template solution to civil wars and insurrections, the sum of these experiences, judiciously and appropriately applied, might ...