Counterinsurgency in Theory and Practice: Lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

What are the foundations for effective population-centric counterinsurgency strategies? The two largest US-funded economic assistance efforts in Iraq were water treatment plants costing several hundred million dollars. One of them decreased insurgent and terrorist activity, and one increased it. Why? This course draws on real life examples to help understand the dynamics of insurgencies and realistic approaches to defeating them. Lecture material is based in part on Sen. Baumgartner's time as a diplomat with the US State Department and his lectures to senior members of the US Military at the Counterinsurgency Leaders Course and at the National Defense University Af/Pak program.