Geopolitics and Counterinsurgency

Insurgencies threaten key economic, strategic, and political areas of the world. Insurgencies disrupt the stability of countries, and regions, which in turn can disrupt the functioning of international relations. The efforts taken to defeat insurgencies, counterinsurgency (COIN), have dominated discussions on international security for more than two decades. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan highlighted the difficulty of succeeding in this type of conflict. Although difficult, counterinsurgency has been a key feature of geopolitics. States have embarked upon counterinsurgency operations to ensure, or deny, access to key regions. States have intervened in other countries in an attempt to foster stability in economically and strategically important regions. This chapter explores how counterinsurgency has been used as a strategic tool by states to secure their power, relative to other states. It discusses how counterinsurgency was tied to the broader geopolitical concerns of the Cold War. It also explores how great power politics continues to influence contemporary approaches to COIN. The work also discusses how COIN is linked to “failed” states and why this concerns larger powers. The chapter also explores the link between counterinsurgency and nation building and discusses whether this has been successful.