IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/fswixx/v25y2014i1p242-253.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Keep the change: Counterinsurgency, Iraq, and historical understanding

Author

Listed:
  • Celeste Ward Gventer

Abstract

This article explores the historical reasoning behind counterinsurgency thinking, particularly as applied to Iraq, using Douglas Porch's book, Counterinsurgency: Exposing the Myths of the New Way of War as a reference point. It argues that the classic historical analogies of counterinsurgency theory were inapt in dealing with the conflict in Iraq, and that the historical reasoning behind counterinsurgency more generally deserves greater scrutiny. Not only are the analogies of questionable applicability, but the evidence of causation in prior conflicts is ultimately unproveable. In the end, Counterinsurgency theory and the US Army's Field Manual 3-24 on Counterinsurgency were politically useful during the ‘Surge’, beginning in 2007, but remain intellectually and historically problematic.

Suggested Citation

  • Celeste Ward Gventer, 2014. "Keep the change: Counterinsurgency, Iraq, and historical understanding," Small Wars and Insurgencies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 242-253, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:fswixx:v:25:y:2014:i:1:p:242-253
    DOI: 10.1080/09592318.2014.894268
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/09592318.2014.894268
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/09592318.2014.894268?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:fswixx:v:25:y:2014:i:1:p:242-253. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/fswi .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.