Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Gentile vs. population-oriented counterinsurgency theory

Col. Gian Gentile, the original COINhata, has a fun piece in the new ish of Army History. His thesis is that the Army’s new counterinsurgency doctrine is “narrowly defined and has become dogmatic,” and relies too much on one school of thought, French theory of the 1950s and 1960s. This is the theory associated with ...

584788_090617_gentile2.jpg
584788_090617_gentile2.jpg

Col. Gian Gentile, the original COINhata, has a fun piece in the new ish of Army History. His thesis is that the Army's new counterinsurgency doctrine is "narrowly defined and has become dogmatic," and relies too much on one school of thought, French theory of the 1950s and 1960s. This is the theory associated with David Galula, he says, that focuses on protecting the population and separating it from the insurgent.

Col. Gian Gentile, the original COINhata, has a fun piece in the new ish of Army History. His thesis is that the Army’s new counterinsurgency doctrine is “narrowly defined and has become dogmatic,” and relies too much on one school of thought, French theory of the 1950s and 1960s. This is the theory associated with David Galula, he says, that focuses on protecting the population and separating it from the insurgent.

But it seems to me that Gentile defines the theory too narrowly. It wasn’t just the French who have argued that the people are the prize, to be won over and supported. British commanders in the revolution belatedly recognized this as the correct strategy. “I never had an idea of subduing the Americans,” explained Gen. James Robertson. “I meant to asst the good Americans to subdue the bad.”

Reading through the footnotes to the article, it occurred to me that two of the leading lights in the counterinsurgency debate, Conrad Crane (on the pro side) and Gentile (on the anti) are both Army officers who did their doctoral dissertations on airpower.   

MAMJODH/Flickr  

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

More from Foreign Policy

Residents evacuated from Shebekino and other Russian towns near the border with Ukraine are seen in a temporary shelter in Belgorod, Russia, on June 2.
Residents evacuated from Shebekino and other Russian towns near the border with Ukraine are seen in a temporary shelter in Belgorod, Russia, on June 2.

Russians Are Unraveling Before Our Eyes

A wave of fresh humiliations has the Kremlin struggling to control the narrative.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva shake hands in Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva shake hands in Beijing.

A BRICS Currency Could Shake the Dollar’s Dominance

De-dollarization’s moment might finally be here.

Keri Russell as Kate Wyler in an episode of The Diplomat
Keri Russell as Kate Wyler in an episode of The Diplomat

Is Netflix’s ‘The Diplomat’ Factual or Farcical?

A former U.S. ambassador, an Iran expert, a Libya expert, and a former U.K. Conservative Party advisor weigh in.

An illustration shows the faces of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin interrupted by wavy lines of a fragmented map of Europe and Asia.
An illustration shows the faces of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin interrupted by wavy lines of a fragmented map of Europe and Asia.

The Battle for Eurasia

China, Russia, and their autocratic friends are leading another epic clash over the world’s largest landmass.