On Armies and Insurgency

Clausewitz’s dictum, written in the early nineteenth century, retains its validity today and is particularly relevant to the problem of counter-insurgency. As a form of warfare it is manifestly different from that for which armies are normally organised and trained: conventional war between formed armies of national states. If they are to prevail in an insurgent war, armies must learn to adapt to that form of warfare; in order to adapt effectively, they must first understand the nature of the war. Hence, the continuing importance of Clausewitz’s principle, which armies can ignore at their peril. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.