Dr Eugene Gholz, Senior Fellow at the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law and Associate Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, welcomed Ms. Celeste Ward, Senior Defense Analyst at the RAND Corporation, who discussed U.S. strategy and counterinsurgency on November 5, 2009 in the LBJ Library Brown Room.
Ms. Ward discussed the emergence of counterinsurgency (COIN) as a U.S. national security strategy and the operational challenges it has presented. The COIN approach changed radically after the surge in Iraq, but it did not fundamentally change the U.S. conundrum there. Despite efforts to control them, conflicts internal to Iraqi culture and politics remain. Ms. Ward highlighted that over-generalization of the COIN strategy has caused problems in dealing with terrorism as well as nation building. She critically analyzed the Army and Marine Field Manual (FM 3-24), the primary document on counterinsurgency strategy.
In a room filled to capacity, Ms. Ward took questions on the use of FM 3-24, alternatives to predator attacks, measuring success in Iraq, difference between al-Qaeda and the Taliban and new theories of hybrid warfare.
Ms. Celeste Ward is a Senior Defense Analyst at the RAND Corporation. Prior to joining RAND, she was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability Operations Capabilities in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from August 2007 ” January 2009. She joined DoD from her second tour in Iraq, where she served for all of 2006 as the political-military advisor to the MNC-I commander, GEN Peter W. Chiarelli. She also served in Iraq from November 2003 ” June 2004 with the Coalition Provisional Authority, where she assisted in the creation and stand-up of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense.
This presentation is part of the Strauss Center’s International Security Speaker Series, which features leading scholars and policy practitioners discussing challenges and solutions for meeting the security demands of the modern world.
Watch the full presentation below: