October

22
2007

12:00 pm EDT - 1:00 pm EDT

Past Event

COIN of the Realm: U.S. Counterinsurgency Strategy

Monday, October 22, 2007

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT

The Brookings Institution

1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC

On October, 22, 2007, the 21st Century Defense Initiative and the Strategic Studies Institute launched the Future Defense Dilemma series with a day-long seminar entitled “COIN of the Realm: U.S. Counterinsurgency Strategy.” The event was inspired by the recent U.S. military experience in Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent renewed interest in counterinsurgency (COIN). This has far-reaching effects on military doctrine, education, training, knowledge management, force structure planning, personnel management, as research, development and acquisition priorities. In a very real sense, the U.S. military of the future will be shaped by efforts to become more effective at counterinsurgency. Given this wide-ranging and deep impact, the seminar explored two key questions: 1) Is the United States pursuing and executing the right strategy? and, 2) Does the military’s focus on counterinsurgency detract from other defense and security needs?

To address these issues, the seminar organizers assembled an impressive group of experts from the military, government and academia to present their assessment of the current effort, lay out the challenges, and offer options for further increasing U.S. effectiveness at counterinsurgency. The event was not-for-attribution to encourage candid debate. This paper summarizes the presentations, arguments and discussions at the general level without attribution to any particular speaker or participant. Professor Douglas Lovelace, Director of the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, and Dr. Peter W. Singer, Director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at Brookings provided introductory remarks, introduced panel speakers, and moderated the discussions.

Agenda

  • October 22
    • COIN of the Realm: U.S. Counterinsurgency Strategy

      12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

      The 21st Century Defense Initiative and the Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute co-organize a seminar series entitled “Future Defense Dilemmas.” The first seminar looked at the many questions that now surround counterinsurgency. A group of leading experts explored whether the new COIN strategy and its implementation captures the realities and needs on the ground successfully, as well as whether the current focus on COIN capabilities and training is being properly balanced with regard to other military capabilities and needs.

      DL
      Douglas Lovelace Director, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College
      Peter W. Singer Former Brookings Expert, Strategist and Senior Fellow - New America
      DL
      Douglas Lovelace Director, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College
      Peter W. Singer Former Brookings Expert, Strategist and Senior Fellow - New America