Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Win/Loss Factors in COIN

The Rand Corporation has completed a study of counterinsurgency efforts in a variety of countries. The study generated a list of 15 factors which help the government win and 12 factors which, if present, work against it winning.

The authors of the study are Christopher Paul, Colin P. Clarke, and Beth Grill. It is entitled "Victory has a thousand fathers: sources of success in counterinsurgency." Go here to see the actual Rand study in pdf form, and here to see a much shorter popularization of the findings in the Washington Times.

The study casts doubt on the chances of success in Afghanistan. No surprises there.