Defeating Complex Insurgency: Beyond Iraq and Afghanistan
John Mackinlay argues that coalition forces must define Al Qa'ida more rigorously to ensure success in Afghanistan in this Whitehall Paper.
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Analysis
Afghanistan
Analysis and commentary on current operations in Afghanistan.
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Events
Frontline Insights: Joint Helicopter Force Operations In A Counter- Insurgency
The Royal United Services Institute is delighted to announce a forthcoming series of lunch-time presentations entitled ‘Front-line Insights’ at which unit commanders from recent operational deployments will share aspects of their personal experience of modern conflict.
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British Operations in Afghanistan

Cutting-edge analysis and comment from the world's oldest defence and security think tank
British Operations in Afghanistan
British Operations in Afghanistan
Commentary, analysis and publications on British operations in Afghanistan


Commentary

British troops in Afghanistan‘A Hard Pounding, Gentlemen’: The Coming Year in Afghanistan
The UK needs more troops on the ground to relieve pressure in Helmand, but unless an increase is accompanied by significant victories elsewhere, the Coalition’s long-term prospects are not good. A new approach to strategic thinking in Afghanistan and the means to give some effect to it are sorely needed in the new year.
Afghanistan National Policeman ISAFLooking for Long-Term Stabilisation in Afghanistan
The United Kingdom announces an increase in troop numbers – the highest level so far – only days after Britain mourned its hundredth combat death in Afghanistan. But the sacrifice and the rise in troop levels should not distract us from the military successes in that country and the focus required by the international community to reap a positive legacy.
F15 Bagram USAF photoFratricide in Afghanistan
Another case of fratricide, this time in Afghanistan, has again raised the issue in the media.
RUSImotifThe International Security Prospects for 2008
The fragile state of order that currently exists in the international system is one of the key themes that policy institutes and governments will need to urgently address in 2008.


Articles from RUSI publications

Helicopter flares AfghanistanCampaign Plans, War Plans and British Defence Policy
The main driver in the defence review should not be a war plan for Afghanistan but a tightly defined and genuinely national view of security.
RoseAfghanistan: Some Recent Observations
In this article Michael Rose discusses winning hearts and minds in Afghanistan and the problems that still need to be overcome.
AfghanistanbmpThe Way Ahead in Afghanistan
The example of Musa Qaleh, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, provides a vivid illustration of a new, progressive approach taken by British forces.
General RichardsRUSI Interview with General David Richards
General Richards speaks frankly of the myriad challenges he encountered during his nine months as commander of ISAF.
British Counter-insurgency doctrineRevising the British Army’s Counter-Insurgency Doctrine
Responding to events in Iraq and Afghanistan, the British Army has begun a review of its counter-insurgency doctrine.
UK Force Capabilities: Lessons From Kabul
ISAF, Veritas, British Armed Forces, Afghanistan
RAF MedicPhoto Essay: The RAF in Afghanistan
This photo project sees Susan Schulman with the RAF in Afghanistan in the late Spring of 2007.
RUSImotifThe Evolution of the Division in British Military History
This article charts the evolution of the division as an organizational unit of the British Army and shows that the division has faded in and out of importance in the last two hundred years depending on the type of war faced.

Further information

Counter-insurgency