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Douglas Porch

Counterinsurgency: Exposing the Myths of the New Way of War Paperback – July 11, 2013

by Douglas Porch (Author)

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Counterinsurgency has staked its claim in the new century as the new American way of war. Yet, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have revived a historical debate about the costs - monetary, political and moral - of operations designed to eliminate insurgents and build nations. Today's counterinsurgency proponents point to 'small wars' past to support their view that the enemy is 'biddable' if the correct tactical formulas are applied. Douglas Porch's sweeping history of counterinsurgency campaigns carried out by the three 'providential nations' of France, Britain and the United States, ranging from nineteenth-century colonial conquests to General Petraeus's 'Surge' in Iraq, challenges the contemporary mythologising of counterinsurgency as a humane way of war. The reality, he reveals, is that 'hearts and minds' has never been a recipe for lasting stability and that past counterinsurgency campaigns have succeeded not through state-building but by shattering and dividing societies while unsettling civil-military relations.

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"In this brilliant volume master historian Douglas Porch shatters the myth of contemporary counterinsurgency by exposing its raw historical roots. American counterinsurgents often preach moralistic sounding bromides like 'protect and serve the local populations'. Porch deconstructs the mythical universe of counterinsurgency and lays bare the historical truth that they are ultimately wars of death, destruction, and often brute conquest."
Colonel Gian Gentile, United States Military Academy, West Point

"Douglas Porch has written one of the single most outstanding reviews and critiques of the modern theory of counter-insurgency. It fully exposes the myths and legends behind a fundamentally flawed and pernicious approach to conceptualising human conflict. This book should be essential reading for military students, scholars and laymen alike."
Alex Marshall, The Scottish Centre for War Studies, University of Glasgow

"... [an] illuminating and feisty book."
The Chronicle Review

"This is a rich, well supported study of a tendentious topic ... it pulls together material on a remarkable variety of cases to make a powerful point that is valuable in the undergraduate and graduate classroom as well as for broader practitioner and public audiences."
Jacqueline L. Hazelton, H-Diplo

Book Description

Douglas Porch's sweeping history of counterinsurgency campaigns, ranging from nineteenth-century colonial conquests to General Petraeus' 'Surge' in Iraq, challenges the contemporary mythologising of counterinsurgency as a humane way of war. The reality, he reveals, is that 'hearts and minds' has never been a recipe for lasting stability.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Paperback: 450 pages
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (August 19, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1107699843
ISBN-13: 978-1107699847
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Customer Reviews: 7 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #629,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #704 in Iraq War History (Books)
- #20871 in Engineering (Books)
- #25042 in World History (Books)

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7 customer reviews

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Great gift for an upcoming military leader

June 19, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Purchased as a gift to one of my ROTC Cadets to begin their professional library. As part of a class assignment I asked each cadet what book would they no-kidding read, military or not, related to their academic major or not. After I compiled the list of books for the class I went online and ordered all the books from Amazon. I placed them at their seats prior to class and allowed them to enter the room w/o me being present for the first five minutes. It was, and still is, one of the good teaching moments of our time together. Thanks for helping me fulfill a need in their soon-to-be military career.

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but that’s debating the brushstrokes of a great painting. His argument is clear

February 23, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This piece is an essential read that unpacks the historical and cultural legacy that underpins COIN narratives. Porch’s perspective is unflinching and pops the myth and cult-of-personality that undergirds the COIN narrative. As a historian, he writes with a direct perspective that he supports with historical context and fully developed case studies. Yes, he takes COIN to task, and yes, some will quibble about his condensed perspectives on some historical examples (Phoenix Program), but that’s debating the brushstrokes of a great painting.

His argument is clear: COIN is inherently about the tactics of fighting a small war and not about the requisite political strategy or grasping the strategic context in order to win. If you find yourself leaning toward the belief that COIN will work in the long run, then this book is worth a read. The alternative is, of course, to settle in for that long run and to experience the predicted second and third order effects that Porch correctly identifies as recurring themes (regardless of the implementing power) in COIN missions.

The writing style is no-holds-barred and while he has a proclivity toward longer sentences, he always makes his point. Overall, a superb work that provides the context of U.S. COIN and lifts the curtain on the thinking, prejudices, and more-often-than-not-failed approaches that went into making the COIN sausage.

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Carole R. Williams

exposing the myths of gen 4 warefare. Often concepts, and reality don't mesh!.

August 18, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This book came to my attention from some folks who have "Been their, Done that". Career special warfare operators and their leaders. These men are my friends and mentors. I'm half way thru and find the book very informative.

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Motown

COIN, Path to Disaster?

November 22, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

An excellent, thought-provoking book that uses history to make judgments about current and future U.S. military strategy. I found his analysis of events in the middle east and Indochina particularly prescient.

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21st centuryman

Worse, it does not argue for doing anything different

August 27, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

the book basically spends it time simply complaining about how "Coin" basically does not work. Ok, fair enough but that is not some very insightful breakthrough, and basically states the obvious. Worse, it does not argue for doing anything different. The reader is basically left with the sense that the author just whined for a few hundred pages and that you wasted your time reading same whining.

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Art M. Loureiro

The pendullum swings yet again

October 16, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Dr. Doug Porch has provided us with a compelling argument that "war is war" irrespective of the label we put on it. Having served multiple combat tours and watched the evolution of the COINdinistas argument in handling these types of conflicts, I can attest that the points made by Dr. Porch are valid. Highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest on the application of force to achieve political objectives. Clausewitz is not dead as some would wish...

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Adam D Zientek

porch's book is a masterpiece. in a compact monograph ...

January 9, 2017

Format: Paperback

porch's book is a masterpiece. in a compact monograph, he tears our into the shallow, dangerous superficiality of our working assumption that some magical set of tactics win wars of counterinsurgency. what wins wars of counterinsurgency has been, since malaya, starvation (i.e. "food deprivation") and the violent depeopling of the countryside (i.e. "strategic hamlets" and "free-fire areas"). he gives us a brutal and unwelcome truth: COIN fails when it focuses on winning hearts and minds, and it wins when it focuses on killing non-combatants. this, along with moyar and gentile, take kilcullen and FM324 to the chopping shed and show them as ahistorical myth-making, not serious history or strategy.

it is a tour-de-force and necessary reading for anyone--specialist or professional--interested in our longest wars.

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