The Counterinsurgent's Constitution
Law in the Age of Small Wars
Ganesh Sitaraman
Reviews and Awards
2013 IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law/Roy C. Palmer Civil Liberties Prize
"Counterinsurgency has been called 'the graduate level of war' because success requires so much more than just killing the enemy. In The Counterinsurgent's Constitution, Ganesh Sitarman provides an invaluable addition to the counterinsurgency playbook: reflections on the role of law as a powerful tool for defeating insurgencies. Highly recommended."--Dr. John A. Nagl, Minerva Research Professor at the US Naval Academy and author of Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam
"One of the most significant developments in warfare in the last decade is the rejuvenation of counterinsurgency doctrine and practice. The Counterinsurgent's Constitution is an indispensable guide to the legal and theoretical underpinnings of this development. It intelligently explains why counterinsurgency doctrine has become so important and will remain so, and provides its definitive normative account."--Jack Goldsmith, Henry L. Shattuck Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
"The Counterinsurgent's Constitution provides a frame around what is occurring today in Iraq and Afghanistan. Understanding the concept of small wars and the role of international law in those wars is critical to comprehending our country's foreign policy and global strategies." --Reviews of Legal Resources
"The book's ambition matches its timeliness. It wields the tools of history, political science, law and other disciplines to analyze counterinsurgency theory and practice, while looking to maintain accessibility for a general readership. The result is both comprehensive and readable ... Recommended." --CHOICE