Counterinsurgency, or COIN, is viewed by its practitioners in the military as the methods of warfare used to divide a civilian population's political and sentimental allegiance away from a guerrilla force. It can also be viewed as a method to suppress national liberation movements.
Nir Rosen responds to critics
Published December 22, 2009
In his piece, "Something from Nothing: U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan," Rosen argues that counterinsurgency doesn't make sense. It asks soldiers, concerned primarily with survival, to be Wyatt Earp and Mother Theresa. This forum, unveiled over several days, showcases critical reviews of the piece and Rosen's response. Among the six participating critics are Helena Cobban, asserting that Rosen's analysis neglects to account for U.S. domestic politics, and Andrew Exum, arguing that the Central Asian conflict likely marks the end of an era of counterinsurgency as a form of warfare.
CJR's assistant editor Joel Meares interviews Pulitzer Center grantee Nir Rosen about the WikiLeaks war logs dump. Rosen has reported from Afghanistan over the past year on the limits of the US...
Gateways
Grantee
Born and raised in New York City, Nir Rosen is a writer, journalist and film-maker. He is also a Fellow at New York University’s Center on Law and Security and a former fellow at the New America...
