Counterinsurgency operations generally have been neglected in broader American military doctrine and national security policies since the end of the Vietnam War over 40 years ago. This manual is designed to reverse that trend. It is also designed to merge traditional approaches to counterinsurgency (COIN) with the realities of a new international arena shaped by technological advances, globalization, and the spread of extremist ideologies-some of them claiming the authority of religious faith. This field manual establishes a framework for military operations in a COIN environment based on lessons learned from previous counterinsurgencies and contemporary operations, as well as existing interim doctrine and doctrine recently developed