US Government Guide To Counterinsurgency

U.S.
GOVERNMENT
COUNTERINSURGENCY
GUIDE
January 2009
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

INTERAGENCY COUNTERINSURGENCY INITIATIVE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The following departments and agencies contributed to the drafting of the

U.S. Government Counterinsurgency Guide:
Department of State
Department of Defense
U.S. Agency for International Development
Department of Justice
Department of The Treasury
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Agriculture
Department of Transportation
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
The drafting of this Guide was led by the

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Department of State.
For their roles in the creation of the Guide, special thanks to:
David Kilcullen
Special Advisor for Counterinsurgency to the Secretary of State
Lieutenant Colonel Matt Porter, UK Royal Marines

Colonel (Ret.) Carlos Burgos, U.S. Army
The Guide is available electronically at:

www.state.gov/t/pm/ppa/pmppt
Bureau of Political-Military Affairs

Printed January 2009
U.S. GOVERNMENT
COUNTERINSURGENCY
GUIDE
January 13, 2009

PREFACE
In recent years the United States has engaged in prolonged counterinsurgency
campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has supported many other friendly
governments facing internal subversion around the globe. In so doing it has both
relearned old lessons, and forged new methods and concepts for the stabilization of
moderate, freedom-oriented governments. This Guide, the first of its kind in almost
half a century, distills the best of contemporary thought, historical knowledge, and
hard-won practice. It is the best kind of doctrinal work: intellectually rigorous, yet
practical.
Irregular warfare is far more varied than conventional conflict: hence the importance
of an intellectual framework that is coherent enough to provide guidance, and flexible
enough to adapt to circumstances. Counterinsurgency places great demands on the
ability of bureaucracies to work together, with allies, and increasingly, with non-
governmental organizations. That it is co-signed by the leaders of the Departments
of State and Defense and the U.S. Agency for International Development says a
great deal about the partnership between these and other departments that has been,
and will be, required if we are to succeed in the future. Although much of our ability
to knit together lines of effort arises from the field, there is an important role for
policy-relevant thought about first order questions. This Guide provides that.
American counterinsurgency practice rests on a number of assumptions: that the

decisive effort is rarely military (although security is the essential prerequisite
for success); that our efforts must be directed to the creation of local and national
governmental structures that will serve their populations, and, over time, replace the
efforts of foreign partners; that superior knowledge, and in particular, understanding
of the human terrain is essential; and that we must have the patience to persevere
in what will necessarily prove long struggles.
In the field, the United States has innovated in remarkable ways. Perhaps the most
important of new initiatives has been the creation of Provincial Reconstruction
Teams (PRTs) which bring together civilian and military personnel to undertake
the insurgency-relevant developmental work that has been essential to success in
both Iraq and Afghanistan. As those conflicts have evolved, so too have the PRTs:
their composition has changed, and so too, in some cases, has their mission. This
guide captures the kind of thinking and accumulated knowledge that has led to this
successful innovation, and its adaptation over the years.
Insurgency will be a large and growing element of the security challenges faced by
the United States in the 21st century. While the possibility of conventional conflict
remains, the fact is that, at the moment, the main powers of the international system
are deeply reluctant to engage in it. Insurgency, however, can and will flourish in the
modern environment. The strains created by globalization, by the collapse of weak
state structures, by demographic, environmental, and economic pressures, by the
ease of cooperation among insurgent groups and criminals, and by the appearance
of destructive radical ideologies, all augur a period in which free and moderate
governance is at risk. And in todays world, state failure can quickly become not
merely a misfortune for local communities, but a threat to global security.
Whether the United States should engage in any particular counterinsurgency is a

matter of political choice, but that it will engage in such conflicts during the decades
to come is a near certainty. This Guide will help prepare decision-makers of many
kinds for the tasks that will result from this fact. Like all such works, it will serve
best if treated not as a rigidly defined set of recipes, but rather, as a stimulus to
disciplined, but creative thought.
Dr. Eliot A. Cohen

Counselor of the Department of State
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary...........................................................................................2
Chapter One: Theory and Principles.................................................................5
Chapter Two: Components of COIN Strategy................................................ 17
Chapter Three: Actors..................................................................................... 28
The Affected Government.....................................................................29
The U.S. Country Team.........................................................................30
The International Community...............................................................31
Inter-Governmental Organizations (IGOs)...........................................32
Non-Government Organizations (NGOs).............................................32
The Private Sector.................................................................................34
Chapter Four: Assessment and Planning.........................................................35
Conclusion.......................................................................................................49
Appendix A: U.S. Government Roles in COIN..............................................51
Appendix B: Web Links to Assessment & Modeling Tools............................55
Appendix C: Useful References......................................................................56
Appendix D: Acronyms and Abbreviations....................................................59
Appendix E: Contact Information................................................................... 60

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Insurgency is the organized use of subversion and violence to seize, nullify or chal-
lenge political control of a region. As such, it is primarily a political struggle, in
which both sides use armed force to create space for their political, economic and
influence activities to be effective. Insurgency is not always conducted by a single
group with a centralized, military-style command structure, but may involve a
complex matrix of different actors with various aims, loosely connected in dynamic
and non-hierarchical networks. To be successful, insurgencies require charismatic
leadership, supporters, recruits, supplies, safe havens and funding (often from illicit
activities). They only need the active support of a few enabling individuals, but the
passive acquiescence of a large proportion of the contested population will give
a higher probability of success. This is best achieved when the political cause of
the insurgency has strong appeal, manipulating religious, tribal or local identity
to exploit common societal grievances or needs. Insurgents seek to gain control of
populations through a combination of persuasion, subversion and coercion while
using guerrilla tactics to offset the strengths of government security forces. Their
intent is usually to protract the struggle, exhaust the government and win sufficient
popular support to force capitulation or political accommodation. Consequently,
insurgencies evolve through a series of stages, though the progression and outcome
will be different in almost every case.
Counterinsurgency (COIN) is the blend of comprehensive civilian and military

efforts designed to simultaneously contain insurgency and address its root causes.
Unlike conventional warfare, non-military means are often the most effective
elements, with military forces playing an enabling role. COIN is an extremely
complex undertaking, which demands of policy makers a detailed understanding of
their own specialist field, but also a broad knowledge of a wide variety of related
disciplines. COIN approaches must be adaptable and agile. Strategies will usually be
focused primarily on the population rather than the enemy and will seek to reinforce
the legitimacy of the affected government while reducing insurgent influence. This
can often only be achieved in concert with political reform to improve the quality
of governance and address underlying grievances, many of which may be legiti-
mate. Since U.S. COIN campaigns will normally involve engagement in support
of a foreign government (either independently or as part of a coalition), success
will often depend on the willingness of that government to undertake the neces-
sary political changes. However great its know-how and enthusiasm, an outside
actor can never fully compensate for lack of will, incapacity or counter-productive
behavior on the part of the supported government.
2 U.S. Government counterinsurgency guide JANUARY 2009

This guide employs a COIN model that comprises five main functional components:
The political function is the key function, providing a framework of political

reconciliation, and reform of governance around which all other COIN activi-
ties are organized. In general, a COIN strategy is only as good as the political
plan at its heart.
The economic function seeks to provide essential services and stimulate long
term economic growth, thereby generating confidence in the government while
at the same time reducing the pool of frustrated, unemployed young men and
women from which insurgents can readily recruit.
The security function is an enabler for the other functions and involves devel-
opment not just of the affected nations military force, but its whole security
sector, including the related legal framework, civilian oversight mechanisms
and judicial system. Establishing security is not a precursor to economic and
governance activity: rather security, economic and governance activity must be
developed in parallel.
The information function comprises intelligence (required to gain under-

standing), and influence (to promote the affected governments cause). It is
essential that the influence campaign is in tune with the strategic narrative,
resonates with the relevant audiences, is based on genuine resolve by the
affected government and that physical actions match. What makes COIN
different from other stabilization and humanitarian tasks is that both elements
of the information function will be conducted in stark competition with the
insurgents own information functions.
These four functions contribute to the overall objective of enabling the affected
government to establish control, consolidating and then transitioning it from inter-
vening forces to national forces and from military to civil institutions.
The imperative to achieve synergy among political, security, economic and informa-
tion activities demands unity of effort between all participants (the affected govern-
ment, USG agencies and coalition partners). This is best achieved through an inte-
grated approach to assessment and planning. A common interagency assessment of
the insurgency establishes a deep and shared understanding of the cultural, ideologi-
cal, religious, demographic and geographical factors that affect the insurgency. Such
understanding provides the foundation for policy formulation when the risks and
costs of intervention are weighed against U.S. interests in determining whether to
become involved and what form that involvement should take. This decision should
not be taken lightly; historically COIN campaigns have almost always been more
costly, more protracted and more difficult than first anticipated. Much will hinge on
the degree to which policy makers consider the affected government to be receptive
to assistance, advice and reform; it is folly to intervene unless there is a reasonable
U.S. Government counterinsurgency guide JANUARY 2009 3

likelihood of cooperation. If the USG does decide to become involved, then policy
makers should seek a careful balance which employs the most appropriate, most
indirect and least intrusive form of intervention yet still gives a high probability of
achieving the necessary effect. The sovereignty of the affected government must
be maintained and too high a U.S. profile may be counter-productive (historically,
some of the most successful U.S. engagements have been indirect and low key).
Once U.S. assistance is committed, a COIN strategy must be devised, ideally in
collaboration with the affected government and other coalition partners, since their
early inclusion can help mitigate the effects of operational level differences in goals,
capabilities and culture. Detailed, integrated planning then follows and a process
of continuous monitoring, evaluation and assessment is used to measure progress
and identify where changes in approach are necessary to achieve success.
Success in COIN can be difficult to define, but improved governance will usually
bring about marginalization of the insurgents to the point at which they are destroyed,
co-opted or reduced to irrelevance in numbers and capability. U.S. intervention may
cease when success is assured but before it is actually achieved. Ultimately, the
desired end state is a government that is seen as legitimate, controlling social, politi-
cal, economic and security institutions that meet the populations needs, including
adequate mechanisms to address the grievances that may have fueled support of the
insurgency.

CHAPTER ONE:
THEORY AND PRINCIPLES
PART A: INSURGENCY
U.S. Army General Samuel Sumner meets with the Sultans of Bayang
and Oato, Philippines, 1902
(Photo: Library of Congress)

Definition
Insurgency can be defined as the organized use of subversion and violence to
seize, nullify, or challenge political control of a region.
Insurgents seek to subvert or displace the government and completely or partially

control the resources and population of a given territory. They do so through the use
of force (including guerrilla warfare, terrorism and coercion/intimidation), propa-
ganda, subversion and political mobilization. Insurgents fight government forces
only to the extent needed to achieve their political aims: their main effort is not to
kill counterinsurgents, but rather to establish a competitive system of control over
the population, making it impossible for the government to administer its territory
and people. Insurgent activity is therefore designed to weaken government control
and legitimacy while increasing insurgent control and influence.
Characteristics
Many of the more renowned insurgencies of the 20th Century followed the Maoist
Protracted Warfare model; being monolithic organizations with a centralized,
hierarchical command structure, clearly defined aims and a sequenced approach to
achieve them. However, modern insurgencies are increasingly being recognized as
complex matrices of irregular actors with widely differing goals. They often lack a
centralized command structure but typically are linked by dynamic, flat networks
(often significantly enabled by modern communications systems). Motivations
within this eclectic mix may vary from religious extremism to pure criminality and
many groups may not themselves intend to become the governing authority. Often,
the only common factor will be a desire to achieve local freedom from control by
the government and its international supporters.
Ideology
During the Twentieth Century, insurgents were often motivated by Marxism, reli-
gion or nationalism (or a combination of these). Insurgencies were often led by
university educated intellectual elites whose personal circumstances were some-
times far removed from those of the rank-and-file insurgents that they inspired.
Modern insurgencies are often more complex matrices of irregular actors with
widely differing goals. At least some of the principal actors will be motivated by a
form of ideology (or at least will claim to be), but that ideology will not necessarily
extend across the whole insurgent network. Modern insurgencies are typified by the
points below.
The charisma of insurgent leaders can sometimes be more important than

ideology in convincing others to join their movement;

Some insurgent actors will be more interested in financial reward than ideol-
ogy. This applies from the unemployed youth getting paid to fight to the crimi-
nal gang leader exploiting a state of lawlessness;
The basic wants, needs and grievances of the population may have little to do
with the intellectual ideology of insurgent leaders, but may still be exploited to
generate support;
Even those fighters, sympathizers, and supporters who justify their actions
with the rhetoric and symbols provided by insurgent propagandists may not be
fully conversant with the ideology;
Hatred that emerges during armed conflict, through atrocities and dispos-
session, often overshadows the initial motivators that drove individuals and
community groups to join the insurgency or support the government;
Players in pre-existing local conflict may draw on the insurgents (or the govern-
ment) as an external ally to help them;
In tribal societies (as found in parts of South and Central Asia, the Middle East
and Africa) the support of one tribe or faction for the government may often
predispose tribal rivals to support the insurgents, and vice versa.
Building Networks
Insurgents require supporters, recruits, safe havens, money, supplies, weapons and
intelligence on government actions. A robust insurgency can be waged with the
support of just a small percentage of a given population. From the remaining major-
ity, insurgents require only compliance (acquiescence or inaction). The position of
an active individual within an insurgent network will be determined by the combi-
nation of a number of factors including:
The level of respect and trust they hold within a community;

Their reputation established through previous insurgent actions;
Their degree of motivation, ideological or otherwise;
Their perceived loyalty to other network members;
Their level of expertise in a particular field;
Their access to resources, human or otherwise;
The degree of risk they are prepared to accept.
Insurgent networks provide life support for the movements they support, but they
also entail vulnerability. Command and support networks establish lines between
isolated cells whose operational security may otherwise be impeccable. Some key
functions may be deliverable only by individuals with dubious loyalty, for example

criminal smugglers enabling logistics supply or personnel movement. Modern
information infrastructure including mobile phones and the internet provide means
of rapid communications and networking between insurgents, but are also open to
exploitation.
The most secure insurgent networks involve small numbers of active personnel
who are trustworthy and employ tight operational security. However, the insurgent
dilemma is that in order to promote the insurgency and exploit success, these small
networks have to expand, exposing themselves to action by government security
forces. Effective interdiction can lead to a cycle of expansion and contraction of
insurgent networks as security and trust is repeatedly built up and then lost.
Funding
To fund their activities, insurgents may foster an illicit economy, sometimes of
international scope, eluding government monitoring, taxation and interdiction.
Such illicit financial activities diminish government revenues, increase corruption
among local officials, and weaken the control and legitimacy of the government.
Criminal activities may include theft, extortion, trafficking (of narcotics, arms and
people), money laundering, piracy, document fraud, bribery, kidnapping and black
market activity. These funding streams will often drive insurgents into alliances
of convenience with organized crime. In some cases, long-standing insurgencies
morph into gangs or organized criminal networks that are motivated by profit and
economic self-interest, rather than ideology.
Funding may also be obtained through donations from sympathetic foreign govern-
ments, diaspora groups and individuals. Such funding streams may be simple and
direct or complex and masked dependent on the efforts being taken internationally
to interdict them. In extreme cases, funding may be channeled through a third party
organization purportedly conducting charitable work.
Trans-National Dynamics
Most insurgencies need a physical safe haven, and may find it in neighboring
countries. Moreover, contemporary insurgencies are often supported or driven by
transnational networks with access to satellite communications, the Internet, global
media and transnational banking systems. International support may be leveraged
from diaspora or migr communities, international institutions, friendly foreign
governments and populations, or the international media. If other countries give
support to the affected government, the insurgents may directly target public opin-
ion there, pressuring them to cease their assistance. Such pressure may be exerted
from the affected territory through the kidnap, torture and murder of intervening
civilian nationals, often broadcast internationally to reach the population of origin.
Alternatively, more direct effect may be achieved through terrorist attacks launched
within the intervening country itself (perhaps facilitated by immigrant or other

sympathetic community groups). Policy makers must therefore take into account
regional and global dynamics as well as the internal situation of the nation most
directly affected.
Insurgent Political Strategy

To gain the support (or at least the acquiescence) of the people, insurgents may
apply a combination of persuasion, subversion and coercion.
Persuasion will often involve the promotion of insurgent ideology, but it can
also include the provision of money, basic social services, control of land, or
positions of authority. Insurgents may appeal to the self-interest of constituen-
cies through alliances with political parties, tribal leaders, ethnic or religious
groups, warlords, organized crime networks, and local bandits. To do so, they
will exploit societal trends and popular grievances or needs, manipulating
elements of religious, tribal, ethnic or local identity that resonate with some
subset of the target population. These trends do not necessarily have to be
linked directly to the ideology of insurgent leaders to be exploited by them
in the mobilization of support. Such partnerships may exacerbate localized
conflict, perpetuate instability and help mobilize support for the insurgency.
Propaganda is a key element of persuasion and is used at the local, national

and often international levels to influence perceptions of potential supporters,
opinion leaders, and opponents in the favor of the insurgents; promoting the
insurgent cause and diminishing the governments resolve. More specifically,
propaganda may be designed to control community action, discredit govern-
ment action, provoke overreaction by security forces, or exacerbate sectarian
tension.
Subversion is the action used by insurgents to penetrate, manipulate, under-

mine or disrupt government institutions and organizations. At the same time,
insurgents may exploit competing power structures, such as tribal hierarchies,
clerical authorities or criminal networks that challenge the authority and reach
of control of the central government. In doing so, the insurgents seek to out
administer the local authorities. Clearly, these techniques will be particularly
effective in areas where government services are weak or absent.
Coercion can either augment or replace persuasion as a means to mobilize

support, depending on the ability of government forces to protect the popula-
tion. Insurgents seek to intimidate government supporters or collaborators, and
force community leaders to take sides in the conflict. This often entails the use
of violence as follows:
Insurgents can use violence to intimidate or eliminate those who

oppose their aims. In particular, insurgent attacks against government

infrastructure and personnel will undermine the governments morale,
confidence and capability, weakening its authority and control over
affected areas;
This effect is magnified by the depiction of such violence in propagan-

da, portraying the government as weak and the insurgents as strong, and
exacerbating local grievances. Propaganda is sometimes the primary
aim of insurgent violence;
Targeting members of different ethnic or sectarian groups may engender

a sense of social identity, solidarity and alienation from the government;
By creating violent instability, insurgents may be able to encourage

people to turn to them in preference to the government to restore
public order;
If insurgents can provoke excessive government action against a popu-

lation, then death, injury, mistreatment, or dishonor can become a
powerful motivator for retributive action against the government.
Challenging Government Security

Insurgents usually have less conventional military capacity than the government (at
least in the early stages of insurgency) and so tend to use guerrilla tactics to inflict
damage without allowing their fighters to be engaged by equal or larger govern-
ment forces. Tactics such as raids, ambushes, assassinations, sabotage, booby traps,
and improvised explosive devices take advantage of mobility, stealth, deception
and surprise to weaken, discredit, or paralyze the less agile government security
forces. Insurgents try to manage the tempo and intensity of their activities to permit
a level of effort they can sustain indefinitely. By prolonging the conflict, they hope
to exhaust the opposition, seeking to impose unsustainable costs on the government
to force capitulation. Although the permutations of insurgent activity are context-
driven, historical analysis shows that insurgents typically apply four basic tactics,
or variations of them, to defeat stronger security forces:
Provocation: Insurgents often commit acts (such as atrocities) that are intend-
ed to prompt opponents to react irrationally, in ways that harm their interests.
For example, government forces, frustrated by their inability to distinguish
fighters from non-combatants, may be provoked into indiscriminate reprisals
or harsh security measures that alienate parts of the population. Alternatively,
one tribal, religious, ethnic or community group may be provoked into attack-
ing another in order to create and exploit instability.
Intimidation: Insurgents intimidate individual members of the government

(especially police and local government officials) to dissuade them from taking
active measures against the insurgents. They will also publicly kill civilians

who collaborate with government or coalition forces, thereby deterring others
who might seek to work with the government.
Protraction: Insurgents seek to prolong the conflict in order to exhaust

opponents, erode their political will, and avoid losses. Typically insurgents
react to government countermeasures by going quiet (reducing activity and
hiding in inaccessible terrain or within sympathetic or intimidated population
groups) when pressure becomes too severe. They then emerge later to fight on.
Exhaustion: Insurgents conduct activities such as ambushes, bombings,

attacks on government facilities, economic assets and transport infrastructure
that are designed to compel security forces to undertake numerous onerous,
high-cost defensive activities that expend scarce resources without significant-
ly advancing the counterinsurgents strategy.
Stages of Insurgency
Every insurgency develops differently, but some general patterns can be observed.
Insurgencies may evolve through some or all the stages of subversion and radical-
ization, popular unrest, civil disobedience, localized guerrilla activity, and wide-
spread guerrilla warfare to open, semi-conventional armed conflict. Alternatively,
they may wither away to dormancy if they are effectively countered or if they fail to
capture sufficient popular support. One or more different stages may appear simul-
taneously in a country or region affected by insurgency. An insurgency may actu-
ally succeed in overthrowing the government (historically a rare event), may force
the government into political accommodation (a more common outcome), may be
co-opted by the government and cease fighting (also common), or may be crushed.
Insurgencies may be co-opted by domestic or trans-national terrorist groups, morph
into criminal networks, or wither into irrelevance. Measures that succeed against
incipient insurgencies often differ greatly from those that are effective against
mature or declining insurgencies. Thus, planners and decision-makers must clearly
understand the stage the insurgency has reached, to develop appropriate responses.

PART B: COUNTERINSURGENCY
Definition
Counterinsurgency may be defined as comprehensive civilian and military
efforts taken to simultaneously defeat and contain insurgency and address its
root causes.
Best practice COIN integrates and synchronizes political, security, economic, and
informational components that reinforce governmental legitimacy and effectiveness
while reducing insurgent influence over the population. COIN strategies should
be designed to simultaneously protect the population from insurgent violence;
strengthen the legitimacy and capacity of government institutions to govern respon-
sibly and marginalize insurgents politically, socially, and economically.
Characteristics
COIN is a complex effort that integrates the full range of civilian and military agen-
cies. It is often more population-centric (focused on securing and controlling a
given population or populations) than enemy-centric (focused on defeating a partic-
ular enemy group). Note that this does not mean that COIN is less violent than any
other conflict: on the contrary, like any other form of warfare it always involves loss
of life. It is an extremely difficult undertaking, is often highly controversial politi-
cally, involves a series of ambiguous events that are extremely difficult to inter-
pret, and often requires vastly more resources and time than initially anticipated. In
particular, governments that embark upon COIN campaigns often severely under-
estimate the requirement for a very long-duration, relatively high-cost commit-
ment (in terms of financial cost, political capital, military resources and human
life). The capabilities required for COIN may be very similar to those required
for peacekeeping operations, humanitarian assistance, stabilization operations, and
development assistance missions. However, the intent of a COIN campaign is to
build popular support for a government while marginalizing the insurgents: it is
therefore fundamentally an armed political competition with the insurgents. Conse-
quently, control (over the environment, the population, the level of security, the
pace of events, and the enemy) is the fundamental goal of COIN, a goal that distin-
guishes it from peace operations or humanitarian intervention. Within these broad
characteristics, the specific nature of any particular COIN campaign arises from the
complex interaction of three key factors: the characteristics of the environment
(physical, economic, political and human) in which it takes place; the nature of the
insurgent group (or groups); and the nature of the counterinsurgent government
and its security forces.

Different Forms of COIN
Domestic COIN versus Overseas COIN: A nation faces very significant
conceptual and practical differences between conducting COIN within its own
national boundaries and intervening in a foreign country in support of another
government. Intervention to conduct COIN in a foreign country is often a
discretionary activity whereas internal/domestic COIN is usually not a matter
of choice. Forces operating in another governments territory are vulnerable
to the insurgents home ground advantage: the insurgents live in the country
and never plan to leave, whereas the intervening force must eventually plan on
transition and departure. The population knows this and is therefore less likely
to support it. A government conducting COIN in its own territory will gener-
ally have greater strategic patience to stay the course of a protracted struggle.
Another home ground advantage is the detailed understanding of the geog-
raphy, culture, history, sociology and politics of the affected country which
insurgents will already possess but the intervening country will usually have to
learn.
Since the United States presently faces no credible internal insurgency, all U.S.
COIN campaigns are likely to be external interventions in support of a foreign
government (or in failed/collapsed states). Intervention to support COIN
merits careful consideration of a range of factors that are addressed in detail in
Chapter 4 (Assessment and Planning).
Bilateral Versus Multilateral COIN: The United States may not be the only
foreign country prepared to assist the affected nation in countering insurgency.
There are significant differences between campaigns supported by a single
intervening power and those involving an intervening coalition or United
Nations force. Coalition COIN will often be seen as a more legitimate endeavor
than a U.S. only intervention, but it requires significant alliance management
and coordination and is inherently less efficient than unilateral COIN. This is
covered in more detail in Chapter 4.
Different Levels of Consent: Not all COIN interventions will have the full
consent of the affected government. There will be major differences between
campaigns conducted with full consent, partial consent, or where there is no
effective government. A final variation (recognized as especially difficult) is
where an insurgency follows a conventional war in which an invading power or
coalition overthrows the existing government, then builds a new government
from scratch (or radically reforms an existing structure) while increasingly
being opposed by insurgents. In this scenario, the challenges of conducting
COIN may not have been fully anticipated or considered during the original
decision to invade. However, by the time the insurgent threat is manifested,
intervening governments may have little choice but to remain committed to
a protracted and costly COIN campaign. It is important to recognize that the

decisions to intervene in Afghanistan and Iraq were not taken as decisions to
undertake COIN campaigns. The strategic drivers and the factors considered
were very different. Use of these examples in the study of COIN intervention
could therefore be misleading and policy makers should exercise caution in
drawing parallels.
Purpose
COIN differs from other civil-military operations both in the methods employed
and in the purpose of the undertaking. The purpose of COIN is to build popular
support for a government while suppressing or co-opting insurgent movements.
Approaches
COIN is a response to a specific set of insurgent threats and requires in-depth
assessment of that threat matrix, based on solid understanding of the relevant
social, cultural, economic, political and security conditions, along with detailed
knowledge of insurgent motivations, goals, organization, and methods. Central to
gaining the confidence and support of the population is to improve the quality of
governance through political reform, strengthening the rule of law and conducting
economic development as appropriate. Simultaneously, a mix of diplomacy and
negotiation, police methods, intelligence work, military combat and non-combat
activities should be used to destroy, contain, marginalize or co-opt the insurgents.
Effective COIN therefore involves a careful balance between constructive dimen-
sions (building effective and legitimate government) and destructive dimensions
(destroying the insurgent movements). As noted, there are two basic approaches to
COIN strategy:
The enemy-centric approach conceptualizes COIN as a contest with an orga-

nized enemy, and focuses COIN activity on the insurgent organizations. This
approach emphasizes defeat of the enemy as its primary task and other activi-
ties as supporting efforts. There are many variants within this approach, includ-
ing soft vs. hard, direct vs. indirect, violent vs. non-violent, and decapita-
tion vs. marginalization strategies. This approach can be summarized as first
defeat the enemy, and all else will follow.
The population-centric approach shifts the focus of COIN from defeating

the insurgent organization to maintaining or recovering the support of the
population. While direct military action against the insurgent organization will
definitely be required, it is not the main effort; this approach assumes that the
center of gravity is the governments relationship with and support among the
population. It can be summarized as first protect and support the population,
and all else will follow.

A purely enemy-centric approach might work against incipient insurgencies that
are led or centrally controlled by a particularly charismatic or powerful individual.
However, historical experience has shown that against mature insurgencies and
complex, non-hierarchical insurgencies, population-centric approaches have a
higher likelihood of success.
In reality, COIN campaigns will rarely be purely enemy-centric or population-

centric, but will generally include elements of both, with the relative balance chang-
ing over time. Winning the support of the population for the legitimate government
will often entail a breaking of the ideological, financial or intimidation linkages
between insurgent leaders and their supporters, perhaps one family grouping or
village at a time. Counterinsurgents should always be looking for potential fracture
lines where the coincidence of interests between the ideological leadership and a
particular part of the insurgent network is weakest. A wedge may then be created
through the use of carrot (political, economic & development benefits) and stick
(detention & disruption) operations. Key bridging individuals (insurgents, who by
personal connections link whole tribes or other groupings to the insurgent leader-
ship) should be a priority for reconciliation or detention, but to achieve this, a deep
understanding of regional sociology and relative motivations is critical. This could
be viewed as an enemy centric approach, since it focuses on the insurgent network,
but its ultimate objective is to win over whole sectors of population to the govern-
ment cause.
Primacy of Non-Military Means

While the provision of security is a necessary activity in COIN, it will not defeat
an insurgency on its own. When possible, civilian and military measures should be
applied simultaneously to achieve success in an integrated strategy that delegiti-
mizes and undermines the insurgency, builds government control and strengthens
popular support. In counterinsurgency, military forces are, in a sense, an enabling
system for civil administration; their role is to afford sufficient protection and
stability to allow the government to work safely with its population, for economic
revival, political reconciliation and external non-government assistance to be
effective.
Unity of Effort
COIN usually involves the efforts of multiple stakeholders. Unity of effort is highly
desirable at the national level (among the various agencies of the affected govern-
ment) and at the international level (between the affected nation and all supporting
nations). This is not easily achieved, especially in the context of a coalition inter-
vention operation. Hence, robust command-and-control (C2) mechanisms, as well
as diplomatic efforts to maintain coalition cohesion and support, are fundamentally
important. They must be considered in detail at the outset of a campaign, and given
adequate resources and attention during it. In more complex coalition scenarios, the

appointment of a single overall strategic advisor to an affected government (ideally
with the mandate and responsibility to coordinate all international civil and military
assistance) may be the only means to ensure unity of effort.
COIN as a Special Environment

For military forces, COIN often involves a wider range of tasks and capabilities
than are required in conventional conflict. Armed forces that are optimized for
major combat operations will usually require specific training (and perhaps even
structural reorganization) to meet the unique requirements of COIN. For civilian
agencies engaged in diplomatic, development and information activities, COIN
is less about performing a different set of tasks than about operating in a differ-
ent kind of environment; often conducting their activities in chaotic, unstable, or
actively hostile environments. Tasks will often need to be carried out in dramati-
cally different ways, generally requiring specialist training and sometimes requiring
development of new capabilities. However it is achieved, the targeted application
of diplomatic, development and information effects in a conflict situation is fraught
with the risk of unintended consequences and requires a sophisticated understand-
ing of the local context.
Success in COIN
A COIN effort may be deemed successful when the following conditions are met:
The affected government is seen as legitimate, controlling social, political,
economic and security institutions that meet the populations needs, including
adequate mechanisms to address the grievances that may have fueled support
of the insurgency;
The insurgent movements and their leaders are co-opted, marginalized, or
separated from the population;
Armed insurgent forces have dissolved or been demobilized, and/or reinte-
grated into the political, economic, and social structures of the country.
It should be noted that it is usually far harder to totally eliminate insurgent activity
than it is to reduce it as a significant threat to the affected government. Insurgents
can become extremely difficult to identify, track and interdict once their manpower
and activity drop below a critical mass. Consequently, low level insurgencies may
persist for many years after the main threat has been broken. International support
in COIN will usually be consensually withdrawn once insurgency can be comfort-
ably contained by the affected government. The combination of these factors means
that a COIN intervention in an affected country may end several years before the
insurgency there ceases.

CHAPTER TWO:
COMPONENTS OF COIN
COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY
APPROACH TO
COUNTERINSURGENCY
Comprehensive Approach
The Information Component.
to Counterinsurgency Information (acquiring knowledge
and exerting influence) is the
base component for all other
activities, providing the linkages
The Economic and Development that allow discrete functional
Component. This includes immediate elements to cooperate as an
humanitarian relief and the provision integrated whole.
of essential services, as well as
longer-term programs to develop the
infrastructure and capacity for
legitimate agricultural, industrial,
educational, medical, commercial
INFORMATION
and governmental activities.
R ITY
U
E EC The Security Component.
Providing physical security
S
CO
against insurgent violence,

N
though often imperative, is only

OM
one step in progressing towards

Human Security which also
encompasses the maintenance
IC
Political strategy. This is the key

function in a COIN effort, POLITICAL of laws, human rights, freedom
providing a framework of political STRATEGY to conduct economic activity,
reconciliation, genuine reform, public safety and health.
popular mobilization and
governmental capacity-building
around which all other programs
and activities are organized.
Control. The Information,
Security and Development
components combine within
the political strategy to enable
the affected government to
control its environment, such
that the population will, in the
long run, support it rather
than the insurgents.
CONTROL

To be effective, officials involved in COIN campaigns must address two impera-
tives political action and security operationswith equal urgency, recognizing
that insurgency is fundamentally an armed political competition and that effective
security operations, though unlikely to deliver success by themselves, will almost
always be a prerequisite to political resolution. Security operations, conducted
in support of a political strategy, coordinated with economic development activ-
ity and integrated with an information campaign, will provide human security to
the population and improve the political and economic situation at the local level.
This should increase societys acceptance of the government and, in turn, popular
support for the COIN campaign. COIN functions therefore include informational,
security, political and economic components, all of which are designed to support
the overall objective of establishing and consolidating control over the environ-
ment, then transferring it to effective and legitimate local authorities.
The diagram on the preceding page is designed to help policy makers visualize the
interaction of COIN components by illustrating the key functions of a comprehen-
sive COIN framework. This approach builds on classic COIN theory but also incor-
porates best practices that have emerged through experience in numerous complex
operations over recent decades.
The diagram is a visualization tool, not a template for action. It is intended to

demonstrate to policy makers and program implementers where their efforts fit into
a COIN strategy or campaign, rather than telling them what to do in a given situa-
tion (it is an aid to collaboration, not an operational plan). The functions are linked
to one another primarily through the information function, which underpins and
integrates the whole effort, and through the common campaign intent embodied in
the control function.
Information
Information is the foundation for all other activities, and provides the linkages that
allow discrete functional elements to cooperate as an integrated whole. The collec-
tion, formulation, storage and dissemination of information are crucial in shaping
perceptions of the conflict by all stakeholders.
In COIN, the information flow can be roughly divided into that information which
we wish to assimilate in order to inform our approach; i.e. knowledge and that
information which we wish to disseminate in order to influence populations. At the
same time, as counterinsurgents we are also interested in impeding the informa-
tion flow of insurgent groups; both their intelligence collection and their ability to
influence.
Knowledge: In COIN, decisions at all levels must be based on a detailed

understanding and awareness of the environment. No COIN strategy can be
better than the degree of understanding on which it is based. The information

required to engender this understanding encompasses a far broader range of
subjects than would normally fall under the auspices of military intelligence.
In conventional warfare, decision makers mostly require intelligence about the
enemy, but in COIN they primarily need intelligence about the population.
COIN intelligence must therefore incorporate the spectrum of characteristics
of a nations system of systems, including political, military, economic, socio-
cultural, infrastructural, informational and environmental knowledge.
At the strategic level, understanding is required of the population factors

behind the insurgency, its stage of progression, the reforms required to address
its causes, and the willingness and ability of the affected government to make
those reforms and the implications of foreign intervention.
At the operational level, understanding is required of the strengths and vulner-

abilities of the insurgent strategy, the strengths and weaknesses of the affected
government and the requirements of the population. Continuous feedback on
the degree of success of ongoing COIN efforts is also critical.
At the tactical level, understanding is required of the identity of active insur-

gents, their networks, logistics, capabilities and intent. It is also very useful
to understand the views, concerns and sympathies of non-combatant civilians
in order to influence them, gain additional intelligence and further isolate the
insurgents. Almost all forms of intelligence collection have a role in COIN,
but historically, intelligence gathered from human sources (including civilians,
agents and captured/reconciled insurgents) has made the greatest contribution
to success.
One of the most critical yet pervasive shortcomings that interagency opera-
tions face is the failure to manage and share knowledge. This is especially
true during COIN, when a common base of understanding is key to effective
collaboration.
Influence: Effective COIN requires the shaping of opinions among several

different population groups through messages and actions:
Affected Nation: The fundamental influence aim in COIN is to build

confidence in the government while diminishing the credibility and
influence of the insurgents. All actions and messages should support
this aim.
U.S. Population: Where the United States is conducting a direct inter-

vention in support of an affected nation, the costs involved (financial
and human) will often be high and prolonged. Understanding and
support in the U.S. will be key if the nation is to remain engaged long
enough to achieve decisive effect.

Neighboring Countries: Many insurgencies depend on safe havens
in countries adjacent to the affected nation. Sanctuary may be giving
willingly or may be beyond control of the government there. Even in
non-democratic nations and ungoverned spaces, there may be merit in
efforts to influence populations in these areas.
Coalition Nations: Political resolve will rarely be consistently robust

across a coalition. U.S. policy makers should be cognizant of the
difficulties some coalition members will face in maintaining popular
support for their participation.
Diaspora Communities: As previously discussed, diaspora communi-

ties can play a significant role in supporting or opposing insurgencies.
Positive influence here can pay dividends.
Clean separation of messages to these various populations is rarely possible

and a high degree of coordination is required to allow messages to be tailored
to different audiences without contradiction.
The influence strategy must cascade down from a set of strategic narratives
from which all messages and actions should be derived. The narratives of the
affected government and supporting nations will be different but complimen-
tary. Messages and actions must address ideological, social, cultural, political,
and religious motivations that influence or engender a sense of common inter-
est and identity among the affected population and international stakehold-
ers. They should also counter insurgents ideology in order to undermine their
motivation and deny them popular support and sanctuary (both physical and
virtual). In doing so, counterinsurgents should seek to expose the tensions in
motivation (between different ideologies or between ideology and self-inter-
est) that exist across insurgent networks.
To enhance the legitimacy of the affected government, messages aimed at their

population should be closely coordinated with and ideally delivered by their
own officials. Themes and messages should be simple and memorable, and
must resonate with the population. This requires detailed understanding of
the COIN environment which must be continually updated. Detailed target
audience analysis is required for each separate population group and reliable
measures of effectiveness must be sought to assess the success of messages
and if necessary recalibrate them.
Messages are delivered partly through media operations, but more prolifically
and often more credibly through the thousands of daily interactions between
the population, the government and the security forces. Every action in COIN
sends a message, which means that words and deeds must be synchronized.
Messages cannot simply be spin, they must be grounded in truth and reflect a

genuine willingness on the part of the affected government to undertake real
reforms that address its peoples needs. Failure to honor promises is usually
extremely counter-productive, so officials should be cautious in making prom-
ises, and should track any that are made, with the aim of meeting or exceeding
the expectations of the population.
The Information Contest: The flow of information (intelligence and influ-

ence) is as important to insurgents as it is to counterinsurgents. A COIN
campaign should seek to limit the intelligence available to the insurgents
through use of counterintelligence, deception and where possible their physical
separation from the populace. Similarly, the ability of the insurgents to exert
influence should be restricted by physical separation and by the pre-emption
and timely countering of their messages.
Influence activities (actions and messages) can be proactive or reactive. Being

proactive gives a significant influence advantage, since the first impression or
report of an event that reaches a population will often receive the widest expo-
sure and will subsequently be most resistant to alternative accounts. The insur-
gents that are most effective in this field design whole operations to support
their influence themes. Successful COIN requires an approach to influence
which is similarly proactive, entrepreneurial and prolific in selling messages.
That said, the imperative to counter insurgent messages demands a reactive

element to our influence activities. Speed is of the essence. The longer it takes
for a rebuttal, denial or counter-message to be released, the less relevant and
effective it will be. Cumulatively, whichever protagonist (insurgent or counter-
insurgent) is fastest at processing the cycle of messaging will have a signifi-
cant advantage in gaining influence. Some of the counterinsurgents delay
in response will be derived from the need to investigate events and establish
facts (a constraint from which insurgents are often exempt), though a holding
response is generally preferable to silence. Less justifiable is the delay inherent
in lengthy approvals processes.
The time sensitivity of reactive influence requires counterinsurgents to employ

delegation of authority, universal understanding of the narrative and a degree
of risk-tolerance throughout the command chain. This has strong parallels to
the military concept of the OODA loop (Observe Orient Decide Act) and
the theory of the mission oriented approach.

ReactiveInfluence:TheImportanceofDelegation
EventOccurs
Controlatthehighest
level,lowtoleranceof
Superior riskandalengthy
Measure Cycle Design approvalsprocess
Resonanceof Messagefor willslowdownthis
theMessage Audience partofthecycle,
handinganinfluence
advantagetothe
insurgents.
DistributeMessage
Security
In COIN scenarios, the term security is frequently used to refer to the degree to
which the government can suppress insurgent activity in an area. However, the
concept of Human Security is a more complex metric which can only be measured
through the collation of individual perceptions across a community. The paramount
concern is the absence of physical violence, but other relevant factors include
maintenance of laws, the protection of human rights, freedom to conduct economic
activity, public safety (fire, ambulance, etc.) and public health (safe drinking water,
sanitation, etc.). COIN emphasis on physical security is not necessarily an indicator
that the wider concept of human security is not important, but more a case of imper-
ative and sequencing. The end state of providing human security should be implicit
in the wider efforts to improve the standard of governance down to the local level.
Physical security efforts must not focus too greatly on strengthening the military
and police forces of the affected nation. Such capacity building should only be part
of a broader process of Security Sector Reform (SSR) in which the whole system
is developed, including the civil institutions that oversee the security forces and
intelligence services, the legal framework and the justice institutions (prosecution
services, judiciary and prisons) that implement it. It is particularly important that a
sense of civil ownership and accountability should extend to the local level and that
all elements of the security apparatus should be trusted by the population. Taking
this broader view of security is very useful to countries engaged in counterinsur-
gency, since it links the reduction of violence to the improvement of many of the
issues that are most important to a population. Indeed, effective SSR (especially
reform of the justice sector) may address many of the grievances that initially fueled
the insurgency.

SSR should be conducted in a balanced and carefully sequenced way, or it may have
negative unintended consequences. For example dramatic improvement in police
capability will only cause demoralization if the judicial system remains inherently
corrupt and fails to prosecute those arrested. There may then be a tendency for the
police to take justice into their own hands in the form of extra-judicial killings.
Similarly, increasing military capacity and competence may risk a coup if the civil
control mechanisms are not in place and the government is seen by the military to
be corrupt or ineffective. Once again, a sound understanding of context is critical.
In many stable democracies, the military forces are primarily responsible for
defense against external threats while the police are responsible for maintaining
internal law and order. However, COIN situations often arise because the police are
incapable of maintaining order (whether through lack of capacity, lack of capability,
corruption or active bias) and so military intervention is often necessary. Mainte-
nance or prompt restoration of police primacy is highly desirable as it reinforces the
perception of insurgents as criminals rather than freedom fighters and highlights
the governments commitment to uphold its peacetime legal framework. It is also
undesirable for the military to take on too great a role in delivery of local civil
services as this may unbalance the distribution of power within government and
increase the risk of a military coup.
The U.S. Government has significant capacity, through the Department of Defense,
to develop the military forces of an affected nation. However, U.S. ability to assist
in other areas of SSR is currently limited by a shortfall of deployable capacity to
assist in law-making, judiciary and policing. Other countries within a coalition may
be able to make a significant contribution in this area.
Unsecured areas provide particular challenges to many of the actors who are best
able to remedy political and developmental deficiencies, but this does not mean
that establishing security must be seen as a necessary precursor to economic and
governance activity: rather, security, economic and political efforts should ideally
be developed simultaneously. The common terminology clear-hold-build is very
useful, but is probably interpreted as more of a set sequence than is always neces-
sary or advantageous.
The Political Strategy

Political strategy is the key function in a COIN effort, because it provides a frame-
work (of political reconciliation, reform, popular mobilization and governmental
capacity-building) around which all other programs and activities are organized.
In general terms, the progress of a COIN campaign is only as good as the political
strategy it supports. Where the political strategy is vague, unrealistic, or lacking in
support from domestic or international stakeholders, the campaign is unlikely to
succeed, whatever the efficiency of individual programs. An effective political strat-
egy focuses on strengthening the governments capability and capacity to respond

and be seen to be respondingto the needs of its people. Almost by definition, a
government facing insurgency will require a degree of political behavior modifica-
tion (substantive political reform, anti-corruption and governance improvement)
in order to successfully address the grievances that gave rise to insurgency in the
first place. Supporting nations may be able to assist in these reforms.
Where the security environment prevents U.S. civilian agencies from operating
freely, the U.S. military may be required to provide extensive support to politi-
cal, economic and governance efforts in their stead. This will be the case during
the establishment of control phase in every COIN campaign and, in many cases,
throughout the campaign. Given the difference in risk acceptance and the large and
enduring resource imbalance between civilian and military agencies this is simply a
fact of life: officials and policy makers must plan for it accordingly.
The Economic and Development Function

The economic and development function in COIN includes immediate humani-
tarian relief and the provision of essential services such as safe water, sanitation,
basic heath care, livelihood assistance, and primary education, as well as longer-
term programs for development of infrastructure to support agricultural, industrial,
educational, medical and commercial activities. It also includes efforts to build
the absorptive capacity of local economies and generate government and soci-
etal revenues from economic activity (much of which may previously have been
illicit or informal). Assistance in effective resource and infrastructure management,
including construction of key infrastructure, may be critically important to COIN
efforts. It must be tailored to the affected governments willingness to undertake
key reforms, capacity to absorb support, and ability to manage its outcomes.
The first principle for most development agencies is to ensure that their activities
do no harm and cultivate sustainable benefits in the regions concerned. They seek
to ensure this through an in depth assessment of the background situation followed
by the application of program management tools to give continuous evaluation and
adjustment.
A COIN scenario presents particular challenges for the conduct of economic and
development activity. For example:
Security: There is often a geographical correlation between areas of high-

est threat from insurgents and areas most in need of development. Develop-
ment agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs) may be specifically
targeted by insurgents, restricting their ability to operate independently and
generating more reliance on military forces to undertake this role.

Time-scale: Counterinsurgents often seek to generate a rapid and obvious
improvement in quality of life and economic opportunity in areas where secu-
rity operations are suppressing insurgent activity. The aim is for the population
to see clear benefit in government control. However, quick impact projects will
usually lack the depth of assessment that precedes more deliberate programs
and may therefore have a higher risk of unintended consequences. They also
give less sense of long term economic optimism and commitment from both
the affected government and its international supporters.
Parity: U.S. assistance can sometimes influence a particular local leader or

population element. Giving assistance to any one part of a population howev-
er, may be seen as preferential and discriminatory by other groups and may
actually exacerbate underlying sectarian, regional or tribal tensions. This is
especially so when development has actually been targeted for political effect.
Using development to buy allegiance may be immediately effective in reduc-
ing violence, but in the long term it may foster corruption and reduce the cred-
ibility of the affected government and its international supporters. Develop-
ment resources should be allocated in a balanced way and must not be seen to
be given as a reward for bad behavior.
Corruption: The requirement in COIN to build the credibility and effective-

ness of the affected government can imply that development resources should
be channeled through its ministries. Governments facing insurgency will often
have endemic corruption and may therefore be deemed unfit to handle U.S.
financial assistance, yet bypassing those ministries might only further enfeeble
them. Corruption prevention measures should be implemented within a wider
program of human capacity development, but will often take a lengthy time
period to become effective. Sensitivity may be necessary in defining corrup-
tion in the context of other cultures or established norms. Similarly, the deci-
sion over when or whether to attempt change should be taken carefully, weigh-
ing the impact in terms of potential for success and desired outcome.
Oversight: NGOs will often undertake a significant proportion of develop-

ment activity in COIN scenarios, yet they will not always heed any form of
direction from the affected nation or intervening U.S. officials. This reduces
the ability of the counterinsurgents to anticipate and prevent the unintended
consequences of development activity.

Control
The four functions (information, political, security and economic) contribute to the
overall objective of enabling the affected government to control its environment.
This implies the ability to contain insurgent activity (the tempo of operations, level
and intensity of violence, and degree of instability that it engenders) such that the
population will, in the long run, support the government against the insurgents
noting that this balance can differ from one society to the next. The progress of
control in a successful COIN campaign often develops in three overlapping phases:
establishment, consolidation and transfer (or transition):
Establishment of control: During the initial phases, a government conducting

COIN seeks to establish control over the environment. This requires controlling
terrain, key infrastructure, economic production assets, population movement,
resources and information flow. In the initial stages there will almost always be
a need to catch up with insurgents who have gained the initiative, made inroads
into popular support and undermined the government. Because the population
is often fearful of the insurgents, the use of force (kinetic or lethal security
operations to kill or capture insurgents) is almost always a significant feature of
this phase of a campaign. Typically, only when the population sees insurgents
losing engagements against the government, and sees the death or capture of
insurgent leaders who previously intimidated the population, will its support
begin to swing behind the government. However, establishing control requires
not only the military defeat of insurgents, but also their political marginaliza-
tion and the provision of economic and governance benefits to the population
in order to reduce the insurgents appeal.
Consolidation: Once control has been established in one area, the government
seeks to extend and consolidate it (in geographic, demographic and functional
terms). This phase is typically the longest in duration, lasting years or even
decades. In COIN, establishing control over population groups and population
centers is more important than the control of territory. Consolidation involves
replacing insurgent networks with pro-government ones, rooting out insurgent
underground cells and infrastructure, eliminating illicit governance structures
and cleaning up illegal economic activity that supports insurgents.
The key indicator of success is the degree of government control in each

district and not the level of insurgent violence, since the latter tends to be low
in areas that are fully controlled by either side but high in contested areas. This
phase involves substantially less kinetic force than the initial phase, with the
military holding the ring while police, intelligence, governance, information
and economic programs assume the lead, and political leaders work to resolve
key grievances and mobilize popular support for ending the insurgency. During
this phase there are often outbreaks of insurgent violence, large-scale provoca-
tions or insurgent atrocities that seek to derail the process of consolidation.

Consequently the entire theater (or parts of it that have already been cleared)
may slip back under insurgent control.
The process of consolidation must be carefully managed to ensure that it does

not progress too slowly (leading to popular frustration and regression to insur-
gent control in key areas) nor too quickly (leading to premature fielding of
inadequate local security forces, or premature transition before control is fully
consolidated). In a U.S. intervention, the tendency of officials to seek an early
handover to elected local leaders needs to be balanced against the requirement
to consolidate control, so that those leaders can assume responsibility for a
stable functioning system.
Transition: Transition is used to describe not just the transfer of authority

from an intervening nation to the host nation but also the handover from indig-
enous military forces to local civilian authority (an essential step in normal-
izing the environment and ending insurgency). Although described last in this
theoretical sequence, transition occurs throughout a campaign, as indigenous
civil structures become sufficiently legitimate, effective and credible to take
the reins. In an intervention, the external forces exit strategy timeline will
depend almost entirely on the rate at which indigenous capacity can be built
and rendered effective and legitimate. This requires considerable time and
resources and must be carefully planned for from the outset. The process, pace
and sequence of the process requires considerable judgment and is one of the
most difficult decisions that officials directing a counterinsurgency campaign
must undertake. Examples abound of COIN campaigns where ill-judged or
hasty transition created opportunities for insurgent comebacks. Conversely, too
slow a transition risks the loss of domestic political support for the campaign,
as tangible signs of progress may be hard to perceive. It also risks creating a
dependency culture in which any appetite for autonomy dwindles.
Relationship Between Functions

Maintaining an agile and flexible balance among the key counterinsurgency
functions is difficult but extremely important. For example, economic assistance
programs with inadequate security presence could simply create an array of soft
targets for the insurgents. Security assistance in the absence of capable political
leadership and oversight could create moreand more capablearmed groups
outside the control of the government. Moreover, while an action may fall within
one function, it often has immediate effects in the other functions. Efforts must be
integrated because effects are impossible to segregate and are often complementary.
Maintaining a balance between functions requires an integrated conflict manage-
ment system (which may be based on a joint committee system, an integrated
command model, a consultative alliance process or a combination of measures)
that enacts the overall COIN strategy and coordinates the activities of key agencies
(civil, military, affected nation and external/coalition).

CHAPTER THREE:
ACTORS
James Kunder (on right), Deputy Administrator of USAID, and Members of a

Provincial Reconstruction Team discuss development issues with an Iraqi Sheikh
(Photo: Staff Sgt. Christian Foster, Defense Department)

The Affected Government
The government threatened by a nascent or active insurgency is the most important
actor in COIN. However great its know-how and enthusiasm, an outside actor can
never fully compensate for lack of will, incapacity or counter-productive behavior
on the part of the supported government: any COIN campaign is only as good as the
political strategy which the affected nation adopts. The U.S. Government percep-
tion of the role of each actor in a COIN struggle (including its own role) may not
coincide with the perception of other actors or the population. Additionally, the
insurgents may portray the U.S. role as one of foreign aggressor, which may well
resonate with the affected population. That population may or may not support and
appreciate the security provided by an external force, but they will certainly see it as
foreign and temporary; their long-term allegiance will tend to swing toward which-
ever local actor (government or insurgent) best aligns with their needs and political
identity, or best provides security. Effective COIN therefore requires that the major
effort is (and is seen by the local population to be) led by the indigenous govern-
ment. Under ideal conditions, foreign forces do not operate independently of the
affected government, nor are political, economic or other development assistance
activities undertaken except at the request of the affected government.
But real world conditions are never ideal. Effective, legitimate governments that
meet the needs of their people and are capable of managing internal security threats
are, almost by definition, unlikely to require external COIN assistance. Governments
that do require such assistance almost always need encouragement and assistance
to address governance shortfalls, corruption, and the real or perceived issues which
insurgents use to mobilize the population. Similarly, in cases where an insurgency
develops after forcible regime change, the affected government will be undergoing
significant reform or even institution building from scratch. An intervening nation
or coalition will almost always need to co-opt, persuade or occasionally pressure
the local government to give up counter-productive behaviors, take genuine steps to
reform its actions, win the support of its people and demonstrate effectiveness and
legitimacy. Four traits that can be used to gauge the legitimacy of a state are:
The degree to which it honors and upholds human rights and

fundamental freedoms;
The degree to which it responds to the opinions of its citizens;
Whether it exercises effective sovereignty;
The degree to which it provides reasonable limits on the power of

government over individual rights.
The affected government may have the desire to do only the minimum necessary to
defeat an insurgency before returning to business as usual. This would bring about
tension between the affected governments desire and an intervening governments

aspiration for wholesale reform and institution building to prevent a recurrence of
unrest. Because leaders in an affected nation almost always emerge through the
same institutional processes that gave rise to the insurgency, they may be unable or
unwilling to undertake reforms; conversely, intervening forces may lack the local
knowledge and situational awareness to judge what reforms are possible and under-
stand how to undertake them effectively. Cooperation between affected nation and
intervening force, however difficult, is absolutely essential for effective COIN.
Relations between the U.S. Government and the affected nation will be dynamic,
especially when elections or other changes affect the composition of its govern-
ment. Any sovereign government may exercise its autonomy in ways that are in
opposition to U.S. interests. A quandary may arise between the U.S.s desire to
reach the end-state (a fully functional, independent and legitimate nation state) and
its protection of the very U.S. interests which prompted engagement in the first
place.
It is important to recognize the distinction between national level government and

local or provincial government. Provincial governments are usually responsible for
managing resources on behalf of the national government, but some countries that
have fairly competent central governments are still unable to extend their author-
ity and legitimacy into outlying provinces, especially where those provinces cross
a social, ethnic, religious or economic fault line. In many regions of the world,
the local delivery of administrative services is traditionally far more important
than central government in a distant capital. Local government entities which are
perceived as illegitimate, corrupt, oppressive, or non-inclusive will provide fertile
ground for an insurgency to develop and operate, but are the lowest level through
which the national government can deliver security and other public services. The
perceived capacity of local government to provide for the population is critical to
national government legitimacy.
The U.S. Country Team

All United States Government COIN strategies, plans, programs, and activities are
undertaken in support of the affected government and managed through the U.S.
Missions Country Team, led by the Chief of Mission (COM) in coordination with
the Department of State. As the U.S. Ambassador, the Chief of Mission is the Presi-
dents personal representative to the host nation and is responsible for recommend-
ing and implementing U.S. policy regarding that country, as well as overseeing all
executive branch employees there and the activities of such employees with limited
exceptions. Appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, the Ambas-
sador has extraordinary decision-making authority as the senior U.S. official present
during periods of instability and crises. Where a confirmed ambassador is not pres-
ent, the Charge dAffaires represents the Secretary of State as the senior diplomat
accredited to the foreign government.

The Country Team is the central element of interagency coordination and
execution in the foreign country. When an insurgency can be identified in its
early stages, the Chief of Mission and his or her senior staff may encourage the
affected government to take preventive action through the use of informational,
security, political and economic measures. The Chief of Mission will also bring
the matter to the early attention of decision makers in Washington D.C., his or her
local knowledge and situational awareness often providing the most incisive and
realistic source of advice. In coordination with policy makers in Washington, the
Chief of Mission may also request foreign assistance for the affected nation, help
to mobilize international support, and engage non-governmental organizations. In
the future, the Chief of Mission may be able to call upon elements of the Civilian
Response Corps, which is currently being developed within the Department of State
and which aims to provide a pool of civilian specialists and experts in reconstruc-
tion and stabilization able to respond rapidly to countries in crisis. These actions
may help to address the causes of unrest before the crisis escalates and limits politi-
cal alternatives to the use of force.
The applicable U.S. geographic Combatant Commander, a four star general or

admiral, will be in contact with the Chief of Mission and will be able to assist
in pre-empting nascent insurgencies by providing military advice and supporting
security enhancement programs. If the United States decides to deploy U.S. combat
forces to assist an affected government, the Combatant Commander will be tasked
to plan and execute the military aspects of that support.
U.S. efforts must be designed and executed in such manner to increase both the
legitimacy and effectiveness of the threatened government in the eyes of its popula-
tion. COIN strategy requires a tailored approach that captures and integrates the
range of U.S. Government agency and department capabilities. The U.S. Govern-
ment may also elect to provide operational assistance to indigenous forces; such
assistance will be the product of deliberate foreign policy decisions taken in Wash-
ington D.C., and will be subject to the oversight of the Chief of Mission. Repre-
sentative capabilities of U.S. Government agencies relevant to COIN are listed in
Appendix A.
The International Community

Considerable attention should be paid to the role of the international community in
the development of a COIN strategy. The formation of a sanctioned multinational
mission offers four principal areas of advantage to a COIN campaign:
Legitimacy: When actions taken in support of a COIN campaign are consis-

tent with applicable international law and are supported by international enti-
ties (which simultaneously condemn the insurgents) it will bolster support
for intervention in the affected nation, the U.S. and the wider international
community.

Capacity: A multinational coalition will be able to call on a larger number of
troops and more financial resources than the U.S. can muster on its own. This
may have a positive effect on U.S. popular support for the campaign when U.S.
taxpayers see other countries participating in and funding part of the counterin-
surgency effort. The troops of other nations may be limited in capability or by
political restrictions, but by undertaking suitable tasking they will still free up
U.S. troops for missions in which they have a comparative advantage.
Specialist Capabilities: Many U.S. allies and coalition partners have a

comparative advantage in deployable capabilities relevant to COIN, such
as developing national police forces, promoting economic growth or devel-
oping the administrative capacity of local officials in high threat or remote
environments.
Regional Effects: Regional partners can help prevent the establishment of

external sanctuaries, prevent or slow the spread of the conflict to other areas,
and provide local expertise, basing, and possibly even security assistance.
As well as these advantages, coalition operations bring many additional challenges

such as differences in goals, training, capabilities, equipment, logistics, culture,
doctrine, intelligence and language. They require early and close coordination
of effort to best integrate their capabilities and expertise in the achievement of
common political, economic, security and informational objectives. However, the
importance of international solidarity and legitimacy means that coalition opera-
tions will remain the preferred path for U.S. COIN engagements in the foreseeable
future.
Inter-Governmental Organizations (IGO)

Inter-Governmental Organizations (IGOs), formed when two or more national
governments sign a multilateral treaty to form such a body and finance its opera-
tions, possess legal personality in international law and their staffs enjoy diplomatic
status. Most IGOs are regionally focused, and as such when IGO member states
could be adversely affected by an insurgency in their region, the organization may
act collectively to deny legitimacy, sanctuary, and support to insurgents. IGOs can
also play an important role in humanitarian assistance and development.
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO)

NGOs are private, self-governing, non-profit organizations. Their activities (a direct
function of the interests of their donors) are very diverse, but include interests such
as education, health care, environmental protection, human rights, conflict resolu-
tion and similar issues. Some NGOs are implementing partners for U.S. foreign
assistance, but these are a special case and will be discussed separately. Since their
aims are often complimentary to the COIN effort in meeting the needs of a local

population, they should, as far as possible, be consulted to minimize duplication
or gaps in assistance. However, in order to secure freedom of movement, includ-
ing access to semi-permissive environments, NGOs generally strive to be inde-
pendent, politically neutral, needs-driven organizations. Consequently, they often
try to minimize contact with uniformed military personnel or other governmental
actors, seeking humanitarian space in which to operate. In an attempt to address
this difficult dynamic, the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) has created a set of guide-
lines (referenced in Appendix C) for relations between U.S. armed forces and non-
governmental humanitarian organizations. This requirement for separation is not
absolute: despite their best efforts, NGOs will not be seen as neutral by some insur-
gents and where security is problematic, NGOs may rely on government resources
military and otherwisefor transportation and protection. COIN planning should
take NGO activities into account, although it is unwise to rely on NGOs to provide
key elements of any plan due to their independent status.
Some NGOs may actually promote aims which conflict with or are counter to the
COIN strategy and COIN planners should take care to establish their motivations
and activities before engagement. NGOs that oppose the affected government or
actively forge links with insurgents will create security problems and risks, but they
may also provide opportunities to open channels for negotiation or mediation with
insurgents. Criticism by NGOs can be useful in drawing attention to those issues
where reform actions are necessary. Finally, as an independent and often credible
source of ground truth about the areas in which they work, they will be an impor-
tant source of information to many interested parties.
Diaspora Groups
Exile or diaspora groups from the affected nation, whether relocated in the U.S. or
elsewhere, will sometimes attempt to influence insurgency situations. They may
sympathize with the insurgents and therefore oppose any intervention on behalf
of the affected nation, or they may offer assistance to the intervention; looking to
play a role in the planning or implementation of a COIN strategy. If they succeed in
having any influence over the situation then it is important for COIN practitioners
to have an accurate picture of their motives, capabilities and relationship with the
affected government, since these are often misunderstood or misrepresented.
Media
Media is a key actor in a successful information strategy in any COIN campaign. The
U.S. Government is accustomed to interaction with western media groups, but there
is often a weakness in the relationship with regional media in overseas insurgency
situations. This can result in missed opportunities to influence key stakeholders.

The Private Sector
MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS
Multinational Corporations usually become involved in counterinsurgency when
their corporate interests (financial interests, foreign based personnel, or infrastruc-
ture, etc.) are threatened, or when a financial advantage is perceived. COIN plan-
ners will not always have the ability to influence the activities of multi-national
corporations in an affected country, but may find that their interests complement the
COIN effort. In particular, firms in extractive sectors (oil, mining, etc.) have large
initial investment and long production cycles, which mean that withdrawal from a
country could result in significant financial cost. For such companies, investment in
local stabilization activities (from micro-loans to security sector reform activities)
makes economic sense.
CONTRACTORS
Contractors are frequently used by the affected nation and supporting countries to
provide a wide range of functions of which security is only one. Policy makers
should be aware that the dynamics of contracting arrangements often lead to
contractor mission creep over time, resulting in expanded costs and responsi-
bilities for contractor personnel. Policy makers should also be cognizant of the fact
that U.S. hired contractors, especially security contractors, are often viewed by the
local population as U.S. Government representatives and any negative behavior or
interaction with the local population can have an adverse impact on COIN efforts.
They should therefore ensure that armed contractors (including security personnel,
facility guards, trainers and advisers) are subject to robust, well-designed rules for
the use of force, and that their relationship with the affected government is ethical
and transparent. Despite these concerns, contractors (across all functions) are now
so essential to U.S. Government overseas operations that large scale COIN inter-
vention is probably inconceivable without them.
GRANTEES
The U.S. Government generally delivers development assistance through grants to
non-governmental organizations and private individuals or through contracts. U.S.
Government grant managers oversee the activities of grantees to ensure that funds
are used for the intended purpose. Generally, they can only change the nature of the
grant once it has been authorized if the grant is written to provide for termination
or modification in the event of changed circumstances. Grantees are often subject
to the same humanitarian space considerations as NGOs and frequently prefer to
be separated from military activity. COIN planners must therefore maintain aware-
ness of U.S. Government-funded grantee activities in order to protect U.S. invest-
ment, avoid duplication of effort, and prevent military compromise of their status.
Grantees may require armed security personnel who would be subject to the same
concerns as armed security contractors.

CHAPTER FOUR:
ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING
A USAID officer works with her Afghan counterparts
(Photo: Michelle Parker, USAID)

Involvement in countering an insurgency overseas is not an endeavor that the
U.S. Government should embark on lightly. As this guide has illustrated thus far;
insurgencies often arise from a deep rooted social grievance which the affected
government may be reluctant or unable to address. Moreover, COIN campaigns are
generally protracted affairs entailing significant costs in lives and resources. U.S.
decision making on whether and how to assist a country affected by insurgency
should follow the sequence below:
Assessment of the situation
Formulation of policy
Development of strategy
Integrated planning
Implementation
Continuous monitoring, evaluation and assessment
This Guide is aimed at U.S. Government policy makers and will therefore give
greatest emphasis to their role in the formulation of policy stage, in particular
determining whether the U.S. should become engaged in a COIN campaign over-
seas and if so how.
Assessing The Situation

A whole-of-government approach to a COIN engagement begins with a strategic-
level interagency analysis of the conflict. This should be conducted by an inter-
agency team comprised of all relevant agencies with core competencies needed to
counter the insurgency. As much as possible within release constraints, the rele-
vant knowledge and understanding of the affected state and strategic environment
should be shared across all participating agencies. The effort may be conducted
at the direction of the National Security Council (though it may be recommended
by the Chief of Mission or the State Department regional Assistant Secretary) and
will usually be led by the U.S. Agency for International Development or by the
Department of State. It may involve extensive field evaluation activities conducted
through the U.S. Embassy in the affected country, or it may be conducted entirely
through remote assessment methods.
Insurgencies are frequently described in terms of sources and root causes, parties
and actors, and drivers and triggers. The sources and root causes of insurgency
can be described in terms of the stakeholders frustrated needs and grievances. The
drivers of insurgency can be expressed in terms of the dynamics among the stake-
holders; in particular the way in which dissatisfaction is harnessed, channeled and
directed by opinion leaders. To fully understand these factors may require detailed
analysis of regional history, ethnicity, culture, politics and religion.

The interagency assessment process should yield a comprehensive picture of the
environment and a common understanding of the nature of the problem. It will
provide the first step towards developing a whole-of-government COIN strategy
and supporting plans.
At the strategic level, analytical tools such as the Interagency Methodology for
Analyzing Instability and Conflict, the Interagency Conflict Assessment Frame-
work (ICAF), and the Global Forecasting Model of Political Instability (the last
from the Political Instability Task Force, a U.S. Government-sponsored grouping
of researchers and scholars from a number of American universities) may be useful
aids to the development of situation-specific information for policy-level strate-
gic planning. The ICAF, the Tactical Conflict Assessment Framework, and similar
modeling tools can be used to inform programmatic, operational and tactical level
plans. Use of these frameworks, must incorporate (or at least consider) any pre-
existing analysis and data, especially that which has been used in support of previ-
ous country plans. A deliberate analysis undertaken carefully will be of enduring
utility in providing deep understanding. See Appendix B for web links to these and
other assessment and modeling tools.
Forming U.S. Government Policy

The assessment phase described above lays the foundation for the formulation of
U.S. Government policy; most critically whether the U.S. should engage with the
affected government, and if so, what form that engagement should take. Only with
a full understanding of the causes, nature and maturity of the insurgency, along
with knowledge of the applicable international and domestic legal frameworks, can
policy makers balance U.S. interests against likely costs and risks of becoming
involved in what could prove to be a prolonged and expensive conflict.
Deciding Whether To Engage

It is folly to become engaged with counterinsurgency in a foreign country unless
there is a reasonable likelihood that the affected government will introduce neces-
sary reforms and will demonstrate adequate willpower and capacity to defeat insur-
gents (or at least be willing to accept advice as well as assistance). Before deciding
to provide overseas COIN assistance, U.S. officials must determine how likely it is
that the local government will cooperate and how willing it is to undertake neces-
sary reforms. For this reason, the following key characteristics of the affected nation
must be examined in depth during the assessment phase:
Character of the affected government: Supporting an oppressive, authori-

tarian or abusive government against an insurgency is highly problematic, not
only from an ethical standpoint but also in terms of the practical likelihood of
success. Such a government is unlikely to develop the necessary legitimacy to
succeed in COIN. At the same time, the credibility and moral authority of the
United States may be tarnished or compromised by too close a relationship

with such a regime. In deciding whether or not to become engaged in a given
circumstance, policy makers must consider the degree to which the insurgency
derives from feckless administration on the part of the affected government,
and therefore the degree to which the insurgents represent legitimate griev-
ances. A government that lacks capacity and capabilities for COIN but is open
to international community assistance and has a fundamentally democratic and
responsible character is more likely to benefit from assistance than a govern-
ment whose political or moral character is fundamentally unsound. The latter
type of government is rarely a good candidate for engagement, regardless of its
perceived geo-strategic importance.
Government bias: Insurgencies that occur along ethnic or sectarian lines

frequently derive from genuine sectarian or ethnic bias in the governments
administration of its population (though this is often manipulated by extrem-
ist groups from outside the affected society). Such biased governments may
require wholesale reform, including changes in the demographic recruiting
base for soldiers, police and civil service, and changes in the political orien-
tation of key leaders. This is a costly, time-consuming and often politically
controversial process. Planners must assess the likelihood that the government
can be sufficiently reformed to meet the needs and address the legal and human
rights of its entire population. They should conduct a detailed assessment of
requirements for reform, and seek a firm commitment to specific reforms from
the affected government. Continued leverage may be necessary to maintain
that commitment, so policy makers may decide to tie continued assistance to
measured progress in meeting reform benchmarks. Without effective reform,
intervention may stabilize the government in the short term, but may simply
enable continued behavior by officials that renders long-term success unlikely.
Rule of law: Most countries affected by insurgency do not have robust, trans-
parent and effective rule of law systems. Indeed, read or perceived inequalities
in the administration of the law and injustices are often triggers for insurgency.
Consequently, building the governments legitimacy and effectiveness often
requires the wholesale reform of rule of law systems. Planners must make a
judgment about how eroded or ineffective those systems are, including judi-
ciary and legislative processes, court and prison systems, police, prosecutors,
defense attorneys and legal record-keeping systems. This will indicate the
amount of effort required to assist and the likely degree of success.
Level of Corruption: Many countries affected by insurgency exhibit perva-

sive problem of government and security force corruption. This creates griev-
ances which insurgents exploit, and places great friction and cost on interna-
tional assistance. In some cases this may simply be a factor for planners to take
into account, but in others policy makers may decide to seek a commitment to
specific anti-corruption programs as a prerequisite for assistance. In judging
the importance of corruption, planners should note that the forms of corrup-

tion that are most relevant in an insurgency scenario are those that alienate the
people from the government or that lead to waste and inefficiency in govern-
ment programs.
Civil-military relations: Many insurgency affected governments have weak

institutions, including military and police forces and civil administration. In
deciding to become involved, U.S. planners must consider whether assistance
to the military and police is likely to alter the balance between military and
civilian power in the country. Large-scale assistance to militaries in the absence
of matching assistance to civil administration (or without military leaders
making firm commitments to civilian control and democracy) may increase the
risk of a coup dtat in the affected country, either during or after the phase of
international assistance. Such an outcome would ultimately harm the affected
country and would undermine the moral authority of the international commu-
nity. Policy makers need to be encouraged to plan for civil-military relations
as an integral part of security sector reform, establishing safeguards to mitigate
the risk of coups.
Economic viability: Many insurgent fighters at the local level, regardless of

rhetoric, are motivated by economic factors: youth unemployment and lack
of economic opportunity. Insurgents often pay local fighters (or allow them
access to profits from illegal activities) to gain their support. Planners must
therefore judge the likelihood that key economic infrastructure and systems
can be put in place to generate alternative livelihoods and make the affected
country economically viable over the long term.
Presence of terrorist or transnational criminal groups: The presence of

adversaries to the global interests of the United States, such as international
terrorist or transnational organized crime groups, is a significant but complex
consideration. Where terrorist groups are present, policy makers may be highly
motivated to engage, in order to prevent the emergence of transnational threats
from under-governed or insurgent-controlled areas. However, large-scale or
clumsy intervention in such areas may actually lead to a backlash from local
people who are alienated by increased government presence. International
involvement in a conflict that does not currently include a transnational element
may give a foothold to extremists from outside the affected country to exploit,
internationalizing the conflict from both the government and insurgent sides.
Policy makers should be very cautious about such escalation and should seek
to assist in the lightest and least intrusive manner possible, working by, with
and through the local government wherever possible. If this is not feasible due
to the scale of the problem, policy makers should carefully weigh the risks of
inaction against the costs and benefits of involvement.
Border security/ungoverned spaces: An affected government that cannot

control its borders, has large areas of ungoverned space near its frontiers, or
faces an active insurgent sanctuary in a neighboring country will be particu-

larly challenged in conducting COIN. Policy makers must judge the likelihood
that areas of ungoverned space can be brought under government control. They
must also take a regional view, considering whether neighboring countries
can be persuaded to play a constructive role (or at least be dissuaded from
undermining the affected government). Assisting an affected country without
an effective strategy for border security, reduction of ungoverned space and
denial of cross-border insurgent sanctuaries is highly unlikely to succeed over
the long term.
Clearly, a country that scores well on each of the factors listed above, and is
therefore a good candidate for assistance, is by definition unlikely to need that
assistance in the first place. Countries that are candidates for U.S. engagement
in the real world therefore usually score badly on several of these consider-
ations. Hence, for each factor listed here, planners and policy makers should
not necessarily expect to find a good current situation, but rather should consid-
er the potential long-term viability. An affected country with sound political,
economic and social fundamentals but poor current conditions is much more
likely to respond well to assistance than one where fundamentals are poor,
even if current conditions are not so bad.
Unfortunately, there will inevitably be occasions when the assessment of the

insurgency situation will weigh heavily against U.S. involvement, but specific
U.S. national interests will drive policymakers towards engagement. However,
this does not negate the value of thorough assessment. On the contrary; it
means that the decision will have been made with a good understanding of the
inherent risks and the challenges that will need to be overcome. It may also
prompt caution over the form of engagement to be used, perhaps encouraging
a more limited involvement from which a subsequent exit can be made with
less political consequence.
DECIDING HOW TO ENGAGE
Depending upon the strength, legitimacy and effectiveness of tools available to the
affected government, the U.S. Government may play a subtle role in countering
an incipient insurgency or may intervene more forcefully. For reasons of cost, to
minimize any backlash from the population against foreign presence, and to protect
the sovereignty of the affected government, policy makers should select the most
appropriate, most indirect and least intrusive form of intervention that will still have
a high probability of achieving the necessary effect. Counter-intuitively for some
planners, it is often the case that the less intrusive and more indirect the approach
selected, the more likely it is to succeed, though this may be dependent on the
maturity of the insurgency.
Insurgencies evolve in stages, and the nature of the U.S. response will often be
dependent on the stage of development of the insurgency at the point when the U.S.
decides to engage. There is a significant difference between responding to an incipi-

ent insurgency and responding to a full-blown insurrection where a well-developed
(though not necessarily effective) counterinsurgency program is being implemented
by the host nation government. An incipient insurgency can often be more easily
addressed by a small scale U.S. response than a well developed one. However, most
affected nations will only seek U.S. assistance when the insurgency has developed
sufficient maturity to pose a real threat, by which time the smaller scale response
options may no longer be effective.
TheDifficultyinAddressingIncipientInsurgencies
Reluctant High/Long
Affected
Threshold Scaleand
Government
forOutside Durationof
Reluctanceto
Assistance COINEffort
Accept
Required
Assistance
Accepting Low/Short
Incipient Developed
StageofInsurgency(TheaterMaturity)
From least to most intrusive, forms of intervention include:
Mission Augmentation: The mission augmentation approach involves the

deployment of a specialist team to augment the U.S. Embassy in the affected
country and/or the U.S. Consulate in an affected region of the country. An
example of this approach was the Joint Strategic Assessment Team (JSAT)
deployed to reinforce U.S. Mission Iraq at the start of 2007. Further examples
are the State Departments Foreign Emergency Response Team (FEST) that
can deploy to support embassies experiencing an emergency situation and the
intelligence communitys Rapid Analytic Support and Expeditionary Response
(RASER) teams. The augmentation team may operate on a temporary duty
basis, or may be assigned directly to the embassy staff. It includes a team
leader well versed in all civil and military aspects of COIN, and team members
selected in consultation with the embassy for specialist skills relevant to the
needs of the affected government. The team should be as small as possible and
would have minimal direct interaction with the affected government or popu-
lation. Instead, it performs its function by training, advising, supporting and
assisting the U.S. Country Team in its role of providing advice and support to
the Ambassador. Assistance to the affected government is then carried out by

the Country Team in the normal manner. This is a low cost, low profile, small
footprint approach which is appropriate early in the development of an insur-
gency, or as a short term surge at other stages in a campaign. It is sustainable
over very long periods due to its low cost. It may also be the chosen approach
in situations when U.S. intervention would be extremely politically sensitive.
Single Expert Advisor: The single expert advisor approach involves the
seconding of one advisor, who may be either a civilian or a military officer,
directly onto the staff of the affected government. The advisor should be placed,
in close consultation with the affected government, in a position to advise, train
and assist its elected leaders and officials in dealing with the insurgency. He
or she assesses the situation, develops plans and capabilities in support of the
affected government, and advises on the placement and tasking of additional
U.S. assets if deployed. They will usually maintain a close relationship with
the U.S. Ambassador and Country Team and may be supported by an embassy
augmentation team or by specialist capabilities that can be called forward as
needed. In order to achieve the necessary influence, the advisor must have
appropriate rank, status and freedom of action as well as a diplomatic approach
to his or her work. The advisor should take a low key, backstage role and
support the affected government as its leads the COIN effort, and avoid even
the appearance of taking on the lead. This approach is relatively low profile,
low cost and sustainable yet it has historically been extremely effective. It is
most successful when the selected advisor possesses cultural and language
skills appropriate to the affected nation, is paired with an effective indigenous
leadership team, and deploys for a long duration.
Civil-Military Assistance: The civil-military assistance approach involves

the deployment of a specialist team, potentially operating as a Joint Inter-
agency Task Force (JIATF), to work with civilian and military agencies of
the affected government. Team members or detachments may be embedded in
key positions in the affected government to provide support, advice, techni-
cal assistance, education and training. Team members do not normally engage
in direct activity against the insurgency. Through the civil-military assistance
program they may help develop an Internal Defense and Development (IDAD)
strategy in consultation with the affected government, and become a conduit
for international community assistance. The team operates as a separate entity
from the U.S. Mission, but normally works under Chief of Mission authority.
If a military Joint Task Force is deployed, or if the security threat is especially
high, the team may operate under military authority (as Provincial Reconstruc-
tion Teams do in Afghanistan). However, unlike Foreign Internal Defense, it
remains civilian-led and military-supported. This approach is relatively low-
cost and sustainable over the long term, but has a higher profile than the two
previous methods discussed above. The size of the civil-military assistance
team should be kept as small as possible, and the duration of deployment rota-
tions as long as possible, to increase its cost-effectiveness.

Foreign Internal Defense (FID): Foreign internal defense is defined as the
participation by civilian and military agencies of a government in any of the
action programs taken by another government or other designated organization,
to free and protect its society from subversion, lawlessness, and insurgency.
The FID approach involves the deployment of military teams, often originating
from the U.S. Special Operations Command, to support the affected govern-
ment. It differs from civil-military assistance in that it is normally military-
led, but still includes very substantial interagency input and support. FID is
described in detail in U.S. Army Field Manual 31-20-3 and in Joint Publication
3-07.1. It varies in scope, cost and intrusiveness depending on the nature of the
insurgency and the capabilities of the affected government, but is usually more
intrusive than the models discussed above (though significantly less intrusive
than direct COIN intervention).
Direct COIN Intervention: Direct intervention in a COIN campaign may

follow previous attempts to handle an insurgency using the approaches
discussed above, or it may be the initial engagement. The current campaigns in
Iraq and Afghanistan are not standard examples of direct COIN intervention,
since troops were initially deployed to bring about regime change. The military
role in direct COIN intervention is described in detail in Army Field Manual
3-24/Marine Corps Warfighting Publication 3-33.5 and in the Defense Depart-
ments forthcoming Joint Publication on Counterinsurgency 3-24, as well as
being discussed elsewhere in this Guide.
FormsofAssistancethatUSGCanProvidetoanAffectedNation
Direct
Scale/Cost
ofEffort Intervention
Foreign
Civil- Internal
Single Military Defense
Mission Expert Assistance
Augmentation Advisor
Formof
Assistance
Thesetwocategories
couldvarysignificantly
inscaleandprofile
Profile/Risk

When considering options, it must be remembered that every insurgency is differ-
ent and will require a carefully tailored response. The approaches outlined above
should therefore be seen as broad categories and not specific models.
It should be noted that there is a tendency for assistance to creep incrementally from
small scale and less intrusive forms to ever larger and more obvious assistance. This
is clearly illustrated by the history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The danger of
this type of escalation is that the in-depth assessment and policy evaluation that
occurred for the initial decision to assist may not necessarily be repeated for every
increment and the government may find itself enmeshed in a scale of effort which
was not reached by logical deliberation.
The risk of escalatory involvement should be considered during the formulation of

policy. If the assessment of the situation is thorough enough and accurate, then the
level of engagement chosen should be sufficient to address the problem. However,
most countries significantly underestimate the scale of effort required to defeat an
insurgency. If escalation of involvement does occur, then a full reappraisal of the
situation and policy response should be conducted prior to each and every incre-
ment of involvement.
Developing a Strategy
Regardless of the model of engagement selected, the policy decision to engage
requires the development of a detailed framework. The more detailed framework
for the U.S. response, in which objectives are determined and resources matched
to their achievement, is achieved through strategy development. The components
of a COIN strategy have already been outlined in detail during Chapter 2. Ideally,
the overall COIN strategy should be devised by the affected nation, as their under-
standing of it and their commitment to it will be key to success. If possible, the role
of the U.S. should therefore be one of advising and assisting the affected nation to
improve its strategy (if it already has one) or to help it write one from scratch (if it
does not). If the latter is the case, the U.S. should also strive to build up the strategy
development capacity of the affected government.
As previously discussed, the affected government may not be particularly eager to

address some of the underlying causes of insurgency and so may find U.S. sugges-
tions unpalatable. If so, the U.S. will need to work with the affected government to
encourage it to take the necessary steps.
Once the affected nation has a viable COIN strategy, the U.S. should determine
where its own resources and actions can best be applied to contribute to the affected
nations strategy.

Integrated Planning
The planning process to put a COIN strategy into effect will seldom be simple. To
be effective, it must be integrated in two dimensions: internationally and between
U.S. Government agencies.
International Integration: By the very fact that the U.S. is assisting another
nation to conduct COIN, the planning process must be at least bilateral. If the
U.S. is involved as part of a coalition, then planning will require a multina-
tional approach if the capabilities of other nations are to be integrated to best
effect and the gains in legitimacy are to be preserved. In such a coalition, the
degree of influence should be proportional to the degree of investment that
each nation is willing to make in support of the affected nation.
As with the strategy, the plan should ideally be devised and owned by the affect-
ed government whose legitimacy and credibility are central to the campaign. If
its competency and capacity to conduct COIN is limited, then initial planning
will require a greater proportion of outside assistance, but supporting nations
should recognize (indeed welcome) the increasing autonomy of the affected
government in planning and conducting COIN as it grows in competence,
capacity and confidence. While such independence may create conflicts of
interest with the supporting nations, it represents progress towards the desired
end-state.
Interagency Integration: COIN planning by the affected nation should inte-

grate civilian and military capabilities across each of the four COIN strategy
functions of security, politics, economics and information. This requires the
affected nation to conduct whole-of-government planning to synchronize and
sequence each departments activities towards achieving the objectives of the
COIN strategy. The synergies achieved will be key to exercising control over
the environment through the strengthening of legitimate and effective govern-
ment institutions.
The U.S. Government also needs to take a whole-of-government approach

to its support of the affected nation. It must employ a tailored approach that
captures and integrates the range of capabilities that U.S. Government depart-
ments and agencies offer, so as to best support the affected government.
A whole-of-government plan should specify:
The over-arching goal to be achieved;
Critical facts and assumptions about the environment;
Critical facts and assumptions about cause and effect;
Major mission elements necessary and sufficient to achieve the goal;

Essential task areas within each major mission element (tailored to the
unique context and with possible consequences weighed against the
desired end-state);
Sequencing of essential tasks;
Resources available to support the plan (skilled people, relationships,

expert knowledge, money, materials, and time);
Metrics to assess progress towards the overarching goal and major

mission elements;
The applicable international and domestic legal constraints;
The structure and business rules for contributing, storing and sharing all
relevant information.
The outputs of whole-of-government assessment and planning should include

detailed descriptions of:
Dynamics driving the conflict, including those that create and support
the insurgency, and those that might mitigate the conflict and defuse the
insurgency;
Primary actors and factors, including opinion leaders and identity

groups (legitimate government leaders and their constituencies, insur-
gent groups and their supporters,), identity issues around which the
actors coalesce (ideologies or other organizing principles), the degree
to which the insurgency has subverted or penetrated the legitimate
government, indigenous and external support to the insurgency, and
vulnerabilities of the insurgent movement;
Purpose of engagement (the what or mission statement for the COIN

campaign);
Major mission elements and essential tasks (the how for COIN
operations);
Resources required; detailed description of how the programs will be

funded and managed by each U.S. Government department and agency;
and resource shortfalls;
Measures of effectiveness and performance indicators for each compo-

nent of the plan and for the overall strategy;
Key legal requirements, constraints and redlines;

Coordination and synchronization mechanismsbusiness rules for
integration of activities across departments and agencies, including
clear lines of authority, command, and communication;
Incorporation, where appropriate and possible, of other national, IGO,

and NGO capabilities into plans and operations.
In summary, the success of the USG in helping other nations to defeat insurgencies
will often be dependent on its proficiency at coordinating all committed agencies
and resources (including its own, those of the affected nation, and those of interna-
tional partners) towards a common objective. The first requirement for the U.S. is
that it must synchronize its own agencies in a whole-of-government understanding
and approach. The second requirement is that it exercise sufficient diplomatic skill
to coax, guide and assist the affected nation through the necessary steps of planning
and execution to regain legitimacy and control. In situations where other coalition
partners are involved, that diplomatic acumen must extend to maintaining the coali-
tion and ensuring that partner efforts are woven as effectively as possible into the
overall COIN strategy.
The Principles of the U.S. Government Planning Framework for Reconstruction,

Stabilization and Conflict Transformation document can be a useful tool for strat-
egy development and planning. See Appendix C for web links to this and other
planning tools.
Implementation
The requirement for integration does not end with planning; but should carry over
into the execution of the plan. Unity of command may seldom be achievable, but a
common sense of purpose and teamwork (between U.S. agencies, with the affected
government and with other coalition players) will greatly increase the probability
of success.
Continuous Monitoring, Evaluation and Assessment

Counterinsurgency situations are typically dynamic; insurgencies evolve and
mature, affected governments (especially democratic ones) will alter in composi-
tion, competency and stance and the opinions held by populations will change.
Concurrently both insurgents and counterinsurgents will evolve and adapt their
strategies and tactics in a Darwinian struggle to outmaneuver each other. Under
such dynamic conditions, it is not sufficient for assessment and planning to occur
once, when the decision to become involved is taken. Planning should be adaptive
and flexible, though for unity of effort and continuity the main themes should be
maintained wherever possible. The situation should be continuously reassessed and
the relative success of insurgent and counterinsurgent should be evaluated. Humani-
tarian and development activities should be monitored and evaluated according to

international standards and best practices. Evaluations are often best achieved by
an independent team of experts reporting directly to the senior U.S. official. The
U.S. military frequently applies this concept, using retired military commanders
and diplomats. The views of the local population and non-U.S. Government entities
should always be sought. Where the situation has changed significantly, the coun-
terinsurgents (the affected nation, the U.S. and partners) must be prepared to review
the strategy to determine whether it is still valid.

CONCLUSION
Afghan women waiting in line to vote at their local polling place
(Photo: USAID)

Effective counterinsurgency requires multi-faceted and integrated operations that
apply civilian and military capabilities across information, security, political and
economic functional areas. The goal of intervention in a COIN campaign is to help
an affected government achieve control over its sovereign territory by establishing,
developing, and consolidating legitimate, effective government institutions.
The U.S. can assist an affected government with strategies that combine informa-
tion, security, political and economic elements. Before committing to engagement,
careful consideration must be given to the affected governments legitimacy, its
willingness to reform and its general political and economic viability. Approaches
ranging from augmentation teams, through advisory support, civil-military assis-
tance, Foreign Internal Defense and direct COIN intervention are available and
historically proven. Diplomatic efforts in COIN, which shape the international envi-
ronment as well as helping the affected government to reform, mobilize support,
marginalize insurgents and extend its control throughout its territory, are led by the
Department of State. Development efforts help the affected government to meet
essential needs, develop infrastructure and build economic capacity and are led by
the U.S. Agency for International Development. Both diplomacy and development
are enabled by and contribute to security activities, which are led by the Department
of Defense. The complex nature of insurgency also requires the integration of capa-
bilities extant in a number of other U.S. Government agencies and departments, as
well as those of other partner nations, inter-governmental and non-governmental
organizations, and the private sector.
Insurgencies, and thus COIN strategies, can vary significantly from one situation
to another. COIN efforts succeed if they result in a political resolution acceptable
to the parties involved. Diplomacy, development and defense are interdependent at
every level of a COIN effort, and civil-military integration is required at the strate-
gic, theater/operational and local/tactical levels. Most successful COIN campaigns
have achieved this unity of effort through unified authority.
This Guide serves to synthesize counterinsurgency theory with the recent experi-
ence of officials across U.S. Government departments and agencies working in this
field. It deliberately focuses at the broad national level so as to develop civilian
literature on counterinsurgency to complement existing military doctrine. As the
first serious U.S. effort at creating a national counterinsurgency framework in over
40 years, this Guide is intended to provide the basis for continued discussion among
and feedback from practitioners. The ultimate intent of this effort is to develop
our national capability to support the counterinsurgency efforts of legitimate and
responsible governments that respond to the needs of their people.
Contact information for the authors and contributors is listed in Appendix E by U.S.
government department or agency.

APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: U.S. GOVERNMENT ROLES IN COIN
National Security Council

The National Security Council (NSC) is the Presidents principal forum for consul-
tation with senior advisors and cabinet officials on national security and foreign
policy matters. The NSC staff provides advice to the President with respect to the
integration of domestic, foreign, and military policies and manages the processes
through which the Presidents polices are coordinated and implemented. Due to
COINs inherent requirement for a whole of government approach, the NSC is
uniquely positioned to guide COIN policy development and implementation.
Intelligence Community
Intelligence is central to any COIN campaign; it is the basis upon which a precise
and deep understanding of the nature of insurgency, its context, and its remedies
are based. The U.S. and international intelligence communities are indispensable
contributors, providing intelligence support to policy makers, including indica-
tions and warning; conflict assessment tools; deployable support, including Rapid
Analytic Support and Expeditionary Response (RASER) teams; collaborative tools;
and dedicated support to planning staffs.
Department of State
The Department of State, through its bureaus, offices, and missions overseas, leads
and oversees U.S. Government support to COIN efforts. The relevant regional
bureau will normally direct primary policy regarding U.S. engagement in or opera-
tions in support of other governments. Several functional bureaus and offices,
including the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, the Office of the Coordinator for
Reconstruction and Stabilization, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, the Bureau
of Population, Refugees, and Migration, the Bureau of Intelligence and Research,
and the Legal Advisers Office will have substantive roles in the development and
execution of COIN strategy. The functional bureaus within State have the capabil-
ity to design and execute full-spectrum assistance programs in the security sector
to include counter-narcotics, anti-corruption, and police and non-military security
forces. The Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization has been
tasked to develop a Civilian Response Corps, to provide a pool of civilian expertise

in reconstruction and stabilization able to respond rapidly to countries in crisis.
Chiefs of U.S. Missions will oversee official U.S. Government operations in the
countries to which they are accredited.
The Department of Defense and U.S. military forces provide a broad range of capa-
bilities to support an integrated U.S. counterinsurgency effort. These may include
advising and training foreign military, internal security, and police units; planning
and conducting security operations in support of indigenous security forces; intelli-
gence, communications, and logistical support; public affairs and military informa-
tion operations; medical assistance; civil affairs support; and infrastructure repair
and construction. Army Field Manual 3-24/Marine Corps Warfighting Publication
3-33.5, Counterinsurgency, and U.S. military joint doctrine describe U.S. military
COIN capabilities and operations in detail.

USAID can assist U.S. COIN efforts by fostering economic growth, promot-
ing human health, providing emergency humanitarian assistance and enhancing
democracy in developing countries. This is achieved through a spectrum of actions
from policy reform to community level programs. USAID has extensive experi-
ence in developing and implementing programs with national governments and
has field offices in 100 developing countries, working in close partnership with
private voluntary organizations, indigenous groups, universities, American busi-
nesses, international organizations, other governments, trade and professional asso-
ciations, faith-based organizations, and other U.S. government agencies. USAID
programs are designed to enhance institutional capacity and ameliorate the root
causes of conflict; community-level programs in particular have a good track record
in addressing the grievances that fuel insurgency. The large numbers of foreign
service nationals that make up the professional cadre of field staff provide a unique
understanding of the local situation, while the range of sectors and levels of activity
allow USAID great operational flexibility and agility to both implement and track
the effectiveness of COIN operations.
The Department of Justice, through its constituent agencies (the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshals Service,
and the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives) and components,
works with other nations to combat transnational crime and international terror-
ist activities, including financial and operational support that may buttress insur-
gency operations. Justice also has offices devoted exclusively to providing overseas
technical assistance that are highly relevant to COIN: the International Criminal

Investigative Training Assistance Program, which develops police and corrections
institutions; and the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and
Training, which develops prosecutorial and judicial institutions.
Department of the Treasury

The Department of Treasurys Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
(TFI) plays an important role within the U.S. Government with the twin aims of
safeguarding the financial system against illicit use and combating rogue nations,
terrorism facilitators, weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferators, money
launderers, drug kingpins, and other national security threats by disrupting and
dismantling terrorist and insurgent financial networks as well as building partner
nation capacity. Both of these aims are highly relevant to COIN. TFIs components
include the Offices of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crime, Intelligence and
Analysis, Foreign Assets Control, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
The Office of International Affairs, through its Office of Technical Assistance,
works directly with foreign governments to support their efforts to improve their
financial systems.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was formed by merging 22 separate
and distinct federal agencies. The Departments overarching purpose is to govern
domestic security operations; however, several component agencies and offices
operate overseas, interacting and cooperating with host nation government agen-
cies. A significant by-product of that interaction and cooperation is improved U.S.
and host government capabilities to provide security and safety for their popula-
tions. DHS component agencies and offices with capabilities most relevant to COIN
are U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), U.S. Citi-
zenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), the
U.S. Secret Service, the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, the Office of Interna-
tional Affairs, and the Office of Operations Coordination.
Many insurgencies occur in countries where the majority of the population is depen-
dent upon agriculture, and where unemployed or underemployed rural youth are
considered prime candidates for recruitment. Development of the agricultural sector
and its institutions helps facilitate trade and increase incomes, reducing recruitment
and support for insurgency. The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) executes the
U.S. Department of Agricultures (USDA) international programs, including market
development, trade agreements and negotiations, and the collection and analysis of
statistics and market information. The FAS delivers training and technical assis-

tance, and collaborates with developing and transitional countries to facilitate trade
and promote food security. The goals of USDAs international work are to help
ensure that countries critical to U.S. national security strengthen their institutions,
policies, and market-based agricultural systems, thereby contributing to long-term
economic and political stability; adopt regulations consistent with international
standards to increase trade, resulting in economic growth and stability; and employ
agricultural practices that will reduce instability, increase regional cooperation, and
ensure an adequate resource base for future generations.
Transportation infrastructure (roads, rail, ports, air and pipeline) is a critical compo-
nent of the economic health and development of countries, factors that mitigate
conditions that encourage insurgency. All facets of commerce, trade, travel, and
quality of life depend on mobility. Transportation facilitates a governments abil-
ity to provide its population with basic services and security, thereby reducing the
appeal of insurgency within the most likely populations of potential recruits. Trans-
portation can support COIN efforts by helping countries to strengthen their insti-
tutions, policies, and intermodal transportation systems, contributing to long-term
economic and political stability; adopt regulations consistent with international
standards to increase trade and safety, resulting in economic growth and stabil-
ity; and adopt transportation practices that promote infrastructure development for
local, regional and international movement of people and commerce.

APPENDIX B: WEBSITE LINKS TO ASSESSMENT &
MODELING TOOLS
1. Global Forecasting Model of Political Instability

http://globalpolicy.gmu.edu/pitf/PITFglobal.pdf
2. USAIDConducting a Conflict Assessment: A Framework for Strategy

and Program Development
http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/cross-cutting_programs/conflict/
publications/docs/CMM_ConflAssessFrmwrk_May_05.pdf
3. USAID Conflict Mitigation and Management Policy

publications/docs/USAID_Conflict_MM_Policy.pdf
4. USAID Community-Based Development in Conflict-Affected Areas

publications/docs/CMM_CBD_Guide_May_2007.pdf
5. Principles of the USG Planning Framework for Reconstruction, Stabilization

and Conflict Transformation
http://www.crs.state.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=public.
display&shortcut=49Q9
6. Graphical Overview of Whole-of-Government Planning Framework and

Process for Reconstruction and Stabilization
http://www.crs.state.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=public.
display&shortcut=49QF
7. S/CRS Triggering Mechanisms for Whole-of-Government Planning for

Reconstruction, Stabilization and Conflict Transformation
www.crs.state.gov
8. S/CRS Interagency Management System for Reconstruction and S

tabilization
www.crs.state.gov
9. OECD DAC Handbook on Security System Reform (SSR)

(includes a framework for SSR assessment)
http://www.oecd.org/dac/conflict/if-ssr

APPENDIX C: USEFUL REFERENCES
Baker, Jim Systems Thinking and Counterinsurgencies Parameters Winter 2006-

07: 26-43.
Baltazar, Thomas and Elisabeth Kvitashvili Combating Terrorism: The Role of

USAID and Development Assistance Marine Corps Gazette Web Article Apr
2007.
Blaufarb, Douglas S. and George K Tanham Fourteen Points: A Framework for

the Analysis of Counterinsurgency Washington: BDM, 1984.
Cassidy, Robert M. Back to the Street without Joy: Counterinsurgency Lessons

from Vietnam and Other Small Wars Parameters Summer 2004: 73-83.
Cassidy, Robert M. The Long Small War: Indigenous Forces for Counterinsur-
gency Summer 2006.
Childress, Michael. The Effectiveness of U.S. Training Efforts in Internal Defense

and Development: The Cases of El Salvador and Honduras Santa Monica:
RAND, 1995.
Cohen, Eliot, et al. Principles, Imperatives, and Paradoxes of Counterinsur-

gency Military Review March-April 2006: 49-53.
Bensahel, Nora Preventing Insurgencies after Major Combat Operations

Defense Studies Vol. 6, No. 3 Sep 2006: 278-291.
Byman, Daniel Going to War with the Allies You Have: Allies, Counterinsurgency,
and the War on Terrorism Carlisle: SSI, 2005.
Echevarria, Antulio J. II. Fourth-Generation War and Other Myths. Carlisle: SSI,
2005.
Galula, David Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice. London: Praeger,

1964.
Gompert, David C. Heads We Win: The Cognitive Side of Counterinsurgency

RAND Occasional Paper, 2007.
Grdovic, Mark. Understanding Counterinsurgency Special Warfare, Dec 2004:

5-8.

Hammes, T.X. The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century. Osceola:
Zenith Press, 2004.
Hoffman, Bruce Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in Iraq RAND Occasional

Paper, 2004.
Hoffman, Bruce From the War on Terror to Global Counterinsurgency Dec

2006.
Jureidini, Paul A. et al. Casebook on Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare: 23

Summary Accounts. Washington: SORO, 1962.
Kilcullen, David. Countering Global Insurgency 2004.
Killebrew, Robert, ed. The Country Team in American Strategy. 2006.
Komer, Robert W. Bureaucracy Does its Thing: Institutional Constraints on U.S.-

GVN Performance in Vietnam. Washington: RAND, 1972.
Kiszely, John. Learning About Counter-Insurgency. RUSI Journal Dec 2006:

16-21.
Ladwig, Walter C., III. Managing Counterinsurgency: Lessons from Malaya.

Military Review May-June 2007: 56-66.
Lawrence, T.E. The 27 Articles of T.E. Lawrence. The Arab Bulletin Aug. 20,
1917.
Long, Austin On Other War: Lessons from Five Decades of RAND Counterin-
surgency Research. Santa Monica: RAND, 2006.
Marks, Thomas A. Insurgency in a Time of Terrorism JCOA-LL Bulletin Vol. II,

No. 4, Sep 2005: 33-43.
Metz, Steven Learning from Iraq: Counterinsurgency in American Strategy. Carl-

isle: SSI, 2007.
Muckian, Martin Structural Vulnerabilities of Networked Insurgencies: Adapting

to the New Adversary Parameters Winter 2006-07: 14-25.
Nagl, John A. Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons

from Malaya and Vietnam Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.
Record, Jeffrey External Assistance: Enabler of Insurgent Success Parameters

Autumn 2006: 36-49.
Record, Jeffrey The American Way of War: Cultural Barriers to Successful

Counterinsurgency 2006.

Rosenau, William Subversion and Insurgency RAND Occasional Paper, 2007.
Schwarz, Benjamin C. American Counterinsurgency Doctrine and El Salvador:

The Frustrations of Reform and the Illusions of Nation Building. Santa
Monica: RAND, 1991.
Sepp, Kalev I. Best Practices in Counterinsurgency. Military Review May-June

2005: 8-12.
Stewart, Richard W. CORDS and the Vietnam Experience: An Interagency

Organization for Counterinsurgency and Pacification National War College
Research Paper, 1 May 2006.
Ucko, David Countering Insurgents through Distributed Operations: Insights

from Malaya 1948-1960 The Journal of Strategic Studies Vol. 30, No. 1, Feb
2007: 47-72.
United States Departments of the Army and Navy Field Manual 3-24/ Marine
Corps Warfighting Publication 3-33.5 Counterinsurgency. 2006.
United States Department of the Army Field Manual 3-07 Stability Operations.
2008.
United States Department of Defense DOD Directive 3000.5 Military Support for
Stability, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction (SSTR) Operations. 2005.
United States Department of State Lessons Learned: Disarmament, Demobiliza-

tion and Reintegration (DDR) in Reconstruction and Stabilization Opera-
tions Guide for U.S. Government Planners.
United States Institute for Peace Guidelines for Relations Between U.S. Armed
Forces and Non-Governmental Humanitarian Organizations in Hostile or
Potentially Hostile Environments. 2008.
United States Institute for Peace Guide for Participants in Peace, Stability and
Relief Operations.
United States White House United States Overseas Internal Defense Policy. 1962.
United States White House NSPD-44 Management of Interagency Efforts

Concerning Reconstruction and Stabilization. 2005.

APPENDIX D: ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
CAF Conflict Assessment Framework, USAID
CCDR Combatant Commander, DOD
COCOM Combatant Command
COIN Counterinsurgency
COM Chief of Mission, State
DOD Department of Defense
Justice Department of Justice
State Department of State
FAS Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA
FM Field Manual, DOD
IGO Inter-Governmental Organization
MCWP Marine Corps Warfighting Publication, DOD
MNC Multinational Corporation
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
NSC National Security Council
U.S. United States
USAID U.S. Agency for International Development
USDA U.S. Department of Agriculture
USG United States Government

APPENDIX E: CONTACT INFORMATION
Department of State
Ms. Donna Hopkins 202-647-0792 [email protected]
Mr. Thomas Cooney 202-647-7031 [email protected]

Ms. Elisabeth Kvitashvili 202-712-0197 [email protected]
Ms. Alexa Courtney 202-712-5181 [email protected]
CAPT Steven Camacho 703-697-5401 [email protected]
Mr. Scott Buchanan 703-697-5641 [email protected]
Office of the Director for National Intelligence

Mr. Jonathan Wohlman 202-201-1304 [email protected]
Mr. Guy White 202-201-1345 [email protected]
Mr. Joseph Jones 202-514-8881 [email protected]
Ms. Barbara Berman 202-616-0808 [email protected]
Department of Treasury
Mr. Rami Shy 202-622-2867 [email protected]
Mr. Kevin McCormick 202-622-7789 [email protected]
Mr. Lawrence Barbieri 202-720-9459 [email protected]
Ms. Amy Freitas 202-251-1150 [email protected]
Mr. Peter McHugh 202-366-6525 [email protected]
Mr. Joseph Traini 202-366-0603 [email protected]

Mr. Eric Wardlow 202-282-8785/ [email protected]
9140

www.state.gov
www.usaid.gov
www.defenselink.mil
www.usdoj.gov
www.ustreas.gov
www.usda.gov
www.dot.gov
www.dni.gov
www.dhs.gov
U.S. GOVERNMENT COUNTERINSURGENCY GUIDE
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U.S.

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

The following departments and agencies contributed to the drafting of the

The drafting of this Guide was led by the

Lieutenant Colonel Matt Porter, UK Royal Marines

The Guide is available electronically at:

Bureau of Political-Military Affairs

January 13, 2009

American counterinsurgency practice rests on a number of assumptions: that the

Whether the United States should engage in any particular counterinsurgency is a

Dr. Eliot A. Cohen

Chapter One: Theory and Principles.................................................................5

Chapter Two: Components of COIN Strategy................................................ 17

Chapter Three: Actors..................................................................................... 28

The Affected Government.....................................................................29

The U.S. Country Team.........................................................................30

The International Community...............................................................31

Inter-Governmental Organizations (IGOs)...........................................32

Non-Government Organizations (NGOs).............................................32

The Private Sector.................................................................................34

Chapter Four: Assessment and Planning.........................................................35

Appendix A: U.S. Government Roles in COIN..............................................51

Appendix B: Web Links to Assessment & Modeling Tools............................55

Appendix C: Useful References......................................................................56

Appendix D: Acronyms and Abbreviations....................................................59

Appendix E: Contact Information................................................................... 60

Counterinsurgency (COIN) is the blend of comprehensive civilian and military

2 U.S. Government counterinsurgency guide JANUARY 2009

The political function is the key function, providing a framework of political

The information function comprises intelligence (required to gain under-

U.S. Government counterinsurgency guide JANUARY 2009 3

4 U.S. Government counterinsurgency guide JANUARY 2009

(Photo: Library of Congress)

U.S. Government counterinsurgency guide JANUARY 2009 5

Insurgents seek to subvert or displace the government and completely or partially

The charisma of insurgent leaders can sometimes be more important than

6 U.S. Government counterinsurgency guide JANUARY 2009

The level of respect and trust they hold within a community;

U.S. Government counterinsurgency guide JANUARY 2009 7

8 U.S. Government counterinsurgency guide JANUARY 2009

Insurgent Political Strategy

Propaganda is a key element of persuasion and is used at the local, national

Subversion is the action used by insurgents to penetrate, manipulate, under-

Coercion can either augment or replace persuasion as a means to mobilize

Insurgents can use violence to intimidate or eliminate those who

U.S. Government counterinsurgency guide JANUARY 2009 9

This effect is magnified by the depiction of such violence in propagan-

Targeting members of different ethnic or sectarian groups may engender

By creating violent instability, insurgents may be able to encourage

If insurgents can provoke excessive government action against a popu-

Challenging Government Security

Intimidation: Insurgents intimidate individual members of the government

10 U.S. Government counterinsurgency guide JANUARY 2009

Protraction: Insurgents seek to prolong the conflict in order to exhaust

Exhaustion: Insurgents conduct activities such as ambushes, bombings,

U.S. Government counterinsurgency guide JANUARY 2009 11

12 U.S. Government counterinsurgency guide JANUARY 2009

U.S. Government counterinsurgency guide JANUARY 2009 13

The enemy-centric approach conceptualizes COIN as a contest with an orga-