Rethinking the Counterinsurgency Narrative

On June 28^th, the New America Foundation’s National Security Studies Program hosted a discussion between Senior Fellow Douglas A. Ollivant and journalist Linda Robinson regarding Mr.Ollivant’s newly published paper “Countering the New Orthodoxy: Reinterpreting Counterinsurgency in Iraq.” Mr. Ollivant, a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Army who spent the last year as a Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor in Afghanistan, began the event with a presentation of his paper. Questioning the dominant military-centric narrative in current discussions about the 2007 Baghdad “Surge,” the paper instead suggests that political developments were the primary contributors to the perceived success in creating stability and progress in Iraq. Mr. Ollivant continued by presenting what he determined to be lessons to take away from the “Surge” period as well as a brief conclusion detailing prospects for Afghanistan.

Linda Robinson, journalist and author of Masters of Chaos: the Secret History of the Special Forces, began the discussion with her own analysis of the paper and the “Surge.” The discussion focused on the role of the U.S. in counterinsurgency, the factors leading to a cool-down of the Sunni-Shi’a sectarian war, and the actions of the Iraqi government.

During the Q&A, questions centered on factors contributing to success in Iraq not mentioned in the paper and how to successfully transfer lessons learned in Iraq to Afghanistan.

Participants

Featured Speaker
Douglas A. Ollivant
Senior National Security Studies Fellow, New America Foundation
Author, “Countering the New Orthodoxy”

Discussant
Linda Robinson
Author, Tell Me How This Ends
Author, Masters of Chaos