Jun 28, 2021

By Dr. M. Chris Mason

Counterinsurgency does not increase the legitimacy of, or support for, central governments engaged in internal conflicts. Recent research shows quantifiable degrees of government legitimacy, national identity, and population security are necessary precursors and accurate predictors of a government’s ability to outlast a civil uprising. Because the first two predictors—government legitimacy and national identity—can be measured and do not increase during a conflict

Aug 1, 2016

By Dr. M. Chris Mason

Dr. M. Chris Mason 2015 was a bad year for the Afghan National Security Forces.  They ended the Western calendar year badly battered, like a punch-drunk prize fighter on the ropes.  At least 5,500 of them died in 2015, the worst annual casualty toll since American involvement in Afghanistan’s civil war began in 2001.  By the end of Western calendar

Sep 11, 2015

By Dr. M. Chris Mason

Dr. M. Chris MasonEvents on world battlefields over the past two years should give the U.S. Army pause to reconsider the entire Foreign Internal Defense (FID) mission. The seemingly unarguable axiom that "good training makes good soldiers" has been proven to be not always true. Good training does not always make good soldiers. If the definition of