Authoritarian states are often surprisingly successful counterinsurgents. In particular,
authoritarians often repress on a vast scale and inhibit insurgent organization, transfer …

This article offers a theory of rebel targeting in civil war. Rebels face two logics of targeting:
the logic of compliance in areas where they are fighting for territory, and the logic of …

This article–based on interviews with Norwegian Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT)
commanders and the lessons-learned database of the Norwegian Armed Forces–argues …

While the efficacy of leadership decapitation (ie, the killing or capturing of top leaders of
militant groups) is much debated, one aspect that remains unexplored is whether the tactic …

This report documents research and analysis conducted as part of a project entitled
Characteristics of Successful Military Interventions, sponsored by the Office of the Deputy …

How does the urban environment, and the ethnic geography at its heart, influence the
combat effectiveness of democracies conducting counterinsurgency operations? We argue …

Abstract Ever since Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer proclaimed that" the answer lies not in
pouring more troops into the jungle, but in the hearts and minds of the people," common …

This article explores the relevance of the dominant, population-centered, counterinsurgency
doctrine in an era dominated by Salafi-inspired state challengers. Building on argument, I …

While it is widely accepted that polling can assess levels of popular support in a geographic
area by surveying a cross-segment of its population, it is less well accepted that analysts can …

Understanding the causes of violent conflict is still a topic of heated academic debate. One
of the robust findings in the civil-war literature is that low-income is a cause of all violent …