215 | John Nagl: Russia's Insurgency Problem

For Day 10 of The Realignment's daily Ukraine coverage, Marshall spoke with retired U.S. Army Lt. Col John Nagl, counterinsurgency expert and visiting professor at the U.S. Army War College. John is the author of Knife Fights: A Memoir of Modern War in Theory and Practice, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam and co-authored the U.S. Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual.

They discuss how the study of past insurgencies instructs about Russia's ability to accomplish its military objectives in Ukraine.

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Outline:
0:00 - Introduction
1:37 - The nature of insurgency and counter-insurgency
3:00 - John’s background
5:40 - John’s assessment of Russia-Ukraine conflict
9:39 - Why do some wars result in insurgency while others don’t?
13:21 - How did we deal with insurgency in Iraq vs. Afghanistan?
17:45 - The challenges of counterinsurgency
22:52 - Putin has botched this invasion, what is next for him?
26:10 - Why have great powers struggled with insurgency throughout history?
29:29 - What can big armies learn from previous insurgencies?
32:39 - What type of army is best at defeating an insurgency?
37:25 - Brutality in the Russian army/government
41:32 - How Ukraine’s geography/borders affect the outcome of this conflict
46:48 - Russian military incompetence
51:58 - How should the U.S. support Ukrainian resistance?

55:24- Where to learn more about insurgency & counter-insurgency