M.L. deRaismes Combes - Classics of Strategy and Diplomacy

Author: M.L. deRaismes Combes

M.L. deRaismes Combes is a postdoctoral fellow at the Clements Center for National Security at the University of Texas at Austin. Her academic research is interdisciplinary in nature, including the theoretical underpinnings of international relations, and with a focus on historical roots of identity and colonialism in the practice of contemporary U.S. foreign policy and international security, most especially in the Middle East and South Asia. She holds a Ph.D. in international relations from the School of International Service at American University, an M.A. in international relations and the sociology of conflict, and an AB in French and war and peace studies at Dartmouth College.

Uncovering the French Origins of COIN

M.L. deRaismes Combes

September 25, 2021

The history of COIN doctrine can be traced across Francophone Africa and Southeast Asia to better understand how it is used or misused today. Perhaps because many counterinsurgency tactics have evolved and been adapted away from those used in the nineteenth century, analysis of contemporary COIN often ignores the doctrine’s colonial origins. Doing so, however, fails to consider how the foundational assumptions of the doctrine may well still limit its successful application in the twenty-first century. This essay, accordingly, sets out to unearth the possible repercussions of adopting the heart of a doctrine without a firm understanding of its initial purpose, seeking to understand whether that is compatible with today’s geostrategic objectives.