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Authoritarian Counterinsurgency
‘Death Solves All Problems’: The Authoritarian Model of Counterinsurgency
- DOI:
- 10.1080/01402390.2015.1068166
pages 62-93
- Received: 5 Mar 2015
- Accepted: 29 Jun 2015
- Published online: 14 Sep 2015
ABSTRACT
Authoritarian states are often surprisingly successful counterinsurgents. In particular, authoritarians often repress on a vast scale and inhibit insurgent organization, transfer populations, have excellent intelligence penetration, and can counter war weariness in ways not available to democracies. Authoritarians, however, come to counterinsurgency with many disadvantages. They cannot rely on many of their conscripts. Corruption creates numerous problems, and authoritarian system often inhibits learning. Similarly, the politicized command structure often produces poor officers and discourages initiative. The repression they use often makes future unrest more likely. Finally, authoritarian regimes may find it harder to cut peace deals and win over pro-insurgent populations.
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- Received: 5 Mar 2015
- Accepted: 29 Jun 2015
- Published online: 14 Sep 2015
Author affiliations
- a Brookings Institution, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
Author biographies
Daniel Byman is a professor in the security studies program at Georgetown University and the research director of the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement (Oxford, 2015). Follow him .
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