The 21st Century Lawrence of Arabia: Fighting Insurgency Through Good Governance

Abstract : By late 2003, The United States found itself engaged in two similar but distinct counterinsurgency conflicts. Similar in that the host nation populations emerged as the military and political center of gravity, yet fundamentally different by this very same reason. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, the adversary fought for the very same goals - winning the support of the people. Their distinct cultural and ethnic advantage with the civilian populace, required the U.S. military and coalition partners to recognize the viable role local governance played in population sentiment. The one emerging lesson that appears destined to define success or failure in today's conflicts are our military's role or lack thereof in supporting local host nation governance. Instead of relying primarily on firepower and security tasks to achieve the desired end state, the U.S. military and our partners must consider measures that bolster effective local government as the decisive effort in COIN. Critical in this discussion is adapting our training, partnership strategies, and organizational structure in propelling local governance to the forefront in counterinsurgency warfare.