Democratic Counterinsurgents

Thisbook explores the ways in which democracies can win counterinsurgencies whenthey implement a proper strategy. At a time when the USA is retrenching fromtwo bungled foreign wars that involved deadly insurgent uprisings, this is a particularlyimportant argument. Succumbing to the trauma of those engagements and drawingthe wrong conclusions about counterinsurgency can only lead to further defeatin the future. Rather than assuming that counterinsurgency is ineffective, itis crucial to understand that a conventional response to an insurgent challengeis likely to fail. Counterinsurgency must be applied from the beginning, and ifdone properly can be highly effective, even when used by democratic regimes. Infact, because such regimes are often wealthier; have more experience atinstitution-building and functional governance; are more pluralistic in natureand therefore enjoy higher levels of legitimacy than do autocracies,democracies may have considerable advantages in counterinsurgency warfare. Rather than give up in despair, democracies should learn to leverage theseadvantages and implement them against future insurgencies.