Simpson’s ‘War from the Ground Up’ (II): You may not be interested in COIN, but COIN remains interested in you

Emile Simpson doesn't
think we can just walk away from COIN. As he writes in his book, "Counter-insurgency is likely
to remain the more effective operational approach to deal with an enemy who
wants to fight in an irregular manner," (p. 11).

"The control of
political space is as important, if not more important, than controlling
physical space," (p. 6). There is a good master's thesis to be written on just
exploring that thought.

And don't think you
can just ignore the politics. "One cannot refuse to engage in political
activity: the empowerment or marginalising of individuals and groups will occur
through coalition actions, whether deliberate or not," (p. 107).

He seems to reject
the "hearts and minds" shorthand often used for COIN: "‘Classic' counterinsurgency...was
far more about population control than about popular support," (p. 150).

Finally, he observes
that classic Western military thought calls for concentration of force against
the enemy's center of gravity, but warns that insurgencies generally avoid
concentration.

His bottom line: "If in a given conflict the
policy choice has been to commit military forces to achieve an outcome in a
country in which the enemy refuses conventional battle and lives among the
people, counterinsurgency, properly resourced, and in a realistic political context,
can be highly effective," (p. 235).