This appendix will outline nine of the most important characteristics of COIN war and contrast them with traditional war, in order to better demonstrate the differences and complexity of Counter-Insurgency (COIN) warfare in comparison with conventional warfare, as referred to in the previous blog ‘ISAF APPENDIX 2 – Counter-Insurgency (COIN) Warfare: Definitions, Political Nature & 5 False Expectations’. These nine characteristics include: (1) the basic nature of the war; (2) aim of the war;
(3) focus of the war; (4) traditional or non-traditional objectives and operations; (5) the role of armed forces in the war; (6) the role of military technology in the war; (7) defining and measuring “success” in the war; (8) the final “end point” in the war; and lastly, (9) the duration of the war campaign.
ISAF – COIN APPENDIX 1 – Insurgency: History, Definitions, Characteristics, Psychological Nature, Warfare & Life Cycle
In a previous blog ‘#31 BACKGROUND – COIN Warfare & the ISAF’s COIN Strategy: Battle for the Majority Population’, I briefly outlined the central theoretical doctrine and most important principles of Counter-Insurgency (COIN) warfare. This appendix consists of a more in-depth examination of insurgencies and is offered in the hope of supplying important additional information to political and military practitioners, with regard to insurgent armed rebellions and the politico-military counter-insurgency warfare required by governing authorities and their civilian and military forces to quell them. In particular, this appendix will address: (1) insurgency as a common form of warfare in human history; (2) several definitions of insurgency; (3) the central characteristics of insurgencies; (4) the psychological nature of insurgency warfare, and the 4 psychological effects insurgents seek to inflict on established governing authorities; (5) the 3 main forms of warfare used by insurgents, namely terrorism, guerrilla tactics and conventional war; (6) the life cycle of an insurgency, from beginning to end; and lastly (7) the inherent uniqueness of each particular insurgency.
#28 BACKGROUND – Afghanistan: The Land, its Diverse Ethnic Peoples & the Pashtun Taliban
#28 BACKGROUND Afghanistan: The Land, its Diverse Ethnic Peoples & the Pashtun Taliban – Dr Regeena Kingsley The Land of Afghanistan Borders & Resources Few countries have a history so permeated with conquest and conflict than that of Afghanistan. A forbiddingly inhospitable country, this 647,500 km² landlocked area is located in both Central Asia and on the western periphery of South Asia. It is bordered clockwise by Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan and China to the northeast, and Pakistan to the east and south, and Iran to the west. Afghanistan: Topographical view of Afghanistan