Redefining Insurgency

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"OH, NO! Not another suggestion on how to define insurgency! Now we'll have to change all our counterinsurgency doctrine as well!"

Yes and no. Yes, "insurgency" needs a better definition to fit circumstances today. We say the word, but it no longer applies in most areas. But, no, "counterinsurgency" and counterinsurgency doctrine may not require change--if we get the "insurgency" definition right.

The current Joint Publication (JP) 1-02 definition of insurgency as "an organized movement aimed at the overthrow of a constituted government through the use of subversion and armed conflict" is too narrow in scope to apply to current situations in Iraq and Afghanistan. …