Social Psychology in Classic Counterinsurgency Writing

摘要

Counterinsurgency, like all war, is essentially a psychological phenomenon - the objective is to coerce or persuade groups of individuals to do your bidding, through force if necessary. As the practitioner and theorist General Sir Frank Kitson rightly noted, 'it is in men's minds that wars of subversion have to be fought and decided'. And yet, the connection between the empirical science of psychology and the practical activity of counterinsurgency is sketchy at best. Counterinsurgency theorists typically indulge in folk psychology, sometimes informed by their practical experiences in the field, some aspects of which prove more scientifically robust than others. Their writing, however, makes very little direct referencing to psychological concepts or research. This is surprising, given the reputation for counterinsurgency writing to be perhaps more academically engaged than other strategic sub-genres. There are, however, some exciting exceptions, which I consider here.