Counter-Insurgency (DIP 600)

Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce

Spring 2011

Monday 1pm-3:30pm

Robert M. Farley

Office: Patterson 467

Office Hours:

Telephone: 859-533-0410

E-mail: robfarley@uky.edu

 

Introduction

DIP 600 (Counterinsurgency) introduces students to the historical and contemporary literature on counter-insurgency, and the history of the development of counter-insurgency theory.  The course is designed to give future policymakers and practitioners a foundation in counter-insurgency theory, such that they can understand contemporary doctrinal debates.  The course load assumes that all students have read David Kilcullen’s The Accidental Guerrilla, and that they will complete FM 3-24 by February 14. 

Format

This course will be conducted as a graduate seminar, with minimal lecture.   I expect everyone to attend, have studied the readings, and have a familiarity with current events.  Any major reputable newspaper will suffice for the latter, although I prefer the New York Times.  I also expect that every student will regularly read the blogs Small Wars Journal, Danger Room, Threat Matrix, Abu Muqawama, and Democracy Arsenal.

Grading

Grading will be based on class participation (25%), and three 7-9 page analytical papers (25% each). 

 

Each of the three 7-9 page analytical papers must be typed and double-spaced.  Please do not exceed the page limit.  Although specific topic is up to you, one paper should have a regional focus, while the other should concentrate on a particular nation-state.  The papers need not hold to any particular format (policy oriented memo, for example), but should be internally consistent in focus.  Additional research is welcome, and may be necessary for the adequate presentation of some topics.  One paper is due on the week of your presentation (see below), one on the final day of the course, and one at any time during the course other than those two dates.   

 

You will be required to make an oral presentation and defense of one analytical paper during class.  You must indicate to me a preference for which week to present by the second week of the course, such that I can stagger presentations. The presentation should last about fifteen minutes, and will be followed by a fifteen minute question and answer period.  The presentation will make up 50% of your participation grade, or 12.5% of the total grade.

 

The papers will be evaluated on both content and presentation.  Information must be accurate, arguments must be well thought out, and style must be compelling.

 

Class Materials

Purchase of the following books is strongly recommended. 

John Nagl, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife

Sadie Jones, Small Wars: A Novel

David Ucko, The New Counter-Insurgency Era: Transforming the US Military for Modern Wars

Andrew Krepinevich, The Army and Vietnam

Karl Marlantes, Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War

James Russell, Innovation, Transformation, and War

Peter Mansoor, Baghdad at Sunrise

Antonio Giustozzi, Koran, Kalashnikov, and Laptop

Thanassis Cambanis, A Privilege to Die

David Axe, War is Boring

 

Week 1: January 24: Introduction and Foundations

David Galula, Counter-insurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice

Laleh Khalili, the New (and Old) Classics of Counter-Insurgency

Week 2: January 31: Foundations II

Roger Trinquier, Modern Warfare

Sadie Jones, Small Wars: A Novel

Week 3: February 7: COIN and Organizational Learning I

John Nagl, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife

Interview with Gian Gentile

Week 4: February 14 COIN and Organizational Learning II        

David Ucko, The New Counter-Insurgency Era: Transforming the US Military for Modern Wars

Gian Gentile,Time for the Deconstruction of Field Manual 3-24

Week 5: February 21 Vietnam

Andrew Krepinevich, The Army and Vietnam

Karl Marlantes, Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War

Week 6: February 28 Iraq I

James Russell, Innovation, Transformation, and War

Speaker: Colonel James Crider

Week 7: March 7 Iraq II

Peter Mansoor, Baghdad at Sunrise

Speaker: Colonel Peter Mansoor

Week 8: March 21 Afghanistan I

 Antonio Giustozzi, Koran, Kalashnikov, and Laptop

Tony Corn, COIN in Absurdistan

Speaker: Brigadier General HR McMaster

Week 9: March 28 Afghanistan II

Gregory Feiffer, The Great Gamble: The Soviet War in Afghanistan

Week 10: April 4 The Other Side: Insurgents

Thanassis Cambanis, A Privilege to Die

Jamie Hill, Che Guevara: An Exploration of Revolutionary Theory

Che Guevara, Guerrilla Warfare

Week 11: April 11 COIN and Airpower

United States Air Force, Irregular Warfare

Charles Dunlap, America’s Asymmetric Advantage

Week 12: April 18 Journalism and COIN

Michael Hastings, The Runaway General

David Axe, War is Boring

Speaker: Spencer Ackerman

Week 13: April 25: The Way Forward

Frank Hoffman, Conflict in the 21st Century: The Rise of Hybrid Wars

Dunlap, Short Changing the Joint Fight

David Ucko, Counter-Insurgency and its Discontents