Neo-Classical Counterinsurgency?

Abstract

T he newly issued Army/Marine counterinsurgency (COIN) manual has been met with well deserved acclaim. It is a product of our collective understanding of insurgency and ongoing experiences in Iraq. It is also the product of various schools of thought about modern insurgencies, including what can be called the classical school, based on the concepts of Mao and revolutionary warfare. 1 In this article I will attempt to capture the impact and implications of the classical school on the new doctrine, as well as evaluate the final product. The classicists focus, perhaps myopically, on the glorious heyday of revolutionary warfare in the 1950s and 1960s. They embrace the teachings of the British expert Robert Thompson and the French officer David Galula.