which of the following insurgency elements do the actual fighting and provide security?

Hence, revisionism mirrors a reflective approach that builds on lessons learned from the past, employing new tactics that best fit the current scenario. It is thus necessary and essential to use new strategies that do not necessarily echo Cold War-like strategies that neo-classist methods outlined accordingly. Moreover, Revisionists argue that, considering the current methods that insurgents employ, it thus becomes harder for counterinsurgents to achieve full victory as neo-classicists would argue. These can be summarised into: the central hierarchical structure of insurgent groups, use of local support, and fighting in urban or rural areas. On the other side of the spectrum, revisionism adopts a more contemporary outlook into insurgency tactics and strategy that counterinsurgency should reflect on the new (and evolving) nature of conflicts. The neoclassicism approach aims for victory and nothing less and the discourse surrounding the utility of force is perceived with no contextual and reflective strategy.

This is an illustration of a new scholarly-practitioner exercise that the book is largely situated in. It is from that perspective that Kitts put forward his new approach: “Reflective-Action.” This new approach combines the two theoretical debates and examines the approach by using three case studies to test it. The first approach calls for action, while the second is reflective. In other words, the book is situated at the heart of the debate in Security Studies between neo-classicism and revisionism. The book’s main aim is to examine how the use of force in the case of counterinsurgency is linked to the outcome. In his book The Strategic Use of Force in Counterinsurgency: Find, Fix, Fight, Miles Kitts surveys this very aspect – what entails the use of force and how counterinsurgent success can be a vital requirement for the goals to be realised.

Despite the factors that come into play, the definition of counterinsurgency and the development of counterinsurgency practice have changed over the years as more scholar-practitioners became involved in the writing and understanding of what policies and strategies are best employed in counterinsurgency. In this book, Miles Kitts fuses two major conventional theories of counterinsurgency to create a new comprehensive approach that can inform future counterinsurgency actions.Ĭounterinsurgency has become a term coined with counterterrorism and conflicts in the Middle East. Counterinsurgency has become a tool for interventions of one state to “rescue” another state from insurgency.

Which of the following insurgency elements do the actual fighting and provide security?