Counterinsurgent's Constitution

Since the "surge" in Iraq in 2006, counterinsurgency effectively became America's dominant approach for fighting wars. Yet many of the major controversies and debates surrounding counterinsurgency have turned not on military questions but on legal ones: Who can the military attack with drones? Is the occupation of Iraq legitimate? What tradeoffs should the military make between self-protection and civilian casualties? What is the right framework for negotiating withthe Taliban? How can we build the rule of law in Afghanistan? The Counterinsurgent's Constitution tackles this wide range of legal issues from the vantage point of counterinsurgency strategy. Ganesh Sitaraman explains why law matters in counterinsurgency: how it operates on the ground and how law and counterinsurgency strategy can be better integrated. Counterinsurgency, Sitaraman notes, focuses on winning over the population, providing essential services, building political and legal institutions, and fostering economic development. So, unlikein conventional war, where law places humanitarian restraints on combat, law and counterinsurgency are well aligned and reinforce one another. Indeed, following the law and building the rule of law is not just the right thing to do, it is strategically beneficial. Moreover, reconciliation with enemies can bothhelp to end the conflict and preserve the possibility of justice for war crimes. Following the rule of law is an important element of success. The first book on law and counterinsurgency strategy, The Counterinsurgent's Constitution seamlessly integrates law and military strategy to illuminate some of the most pressing issues in warfare and the transition from war to peace. Its lessons also apply to conflicts in Libya and other hot-spots in the Middle East.

"Counterinsurgency has been called 'the graduate level of war' because success requires so much more than just killing the enemy. In The Counterinsurgent's Constitution, Ganesh Sitarman provides an invaluable addition to the counterinsurgency playbook: reflections on the role of law as a powerful tool for defeating insurgencies. Highly recommended."--Dr. John A. Nagl, Minerva Research Professor at the US Naval Academy and author of Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam "One of the most significant developments in warfare in the last decade is the rejuvenation of counterinsurgency doctrine and practice. The Counterinsurgent's Constitution is an indispensable guide to the legal and theoretical underpinnings of this development. It intelligently explains why counterinsurgency doctrine has become so important and will remain so, and provides its definitive normative account."--Jack Goldsmith, Henry L. Shattuck Professor of Law, Harvard Law School "The Counterinsurgent's Constitution provides a frame around what is occurring today in Iraq and Afghanistan. Understanding the concept of small wars and the role of international law in those wars is critical to comprehending our country's foreign policy and global strategies." --Reviews of Legal Resources"The book's ambition matches its timeliness. It wields the tools of history, political science, law and other disciplines to analyze counterinsurgency theory and practice, while looking to maintain accessibility for a general readership. The result is both comprehensive and readable ... Recommended." --CHOICE

Ganesh Sitaraman is an Assistant Professor of Law at Vanderbilt Law School. The author of Invisible Citizens: Youth Politics after September 11, Sitaraman has also written about counterinsurgency in Afghanistan in The New York Times Global Edition and in The New Republic. In the summer of 2009, he was a research fellow at the Counterinsurgency Training Center-Afghanistan, at Camp Julien, Kabul,Afghanistan.