A capstone reference guide, this is the official study of the motivations and behaviors of contemporary terrorists of both domestic and foreign origin, of terrorist goals and objectives, and of terrorist tactics, techniques, and procedures. It describes the scope of the terrorism problem facing the United States, explores the face of terrorism today, discusses the types of organizational models terrorist groups utilize, and extrapolates future trends in terrorism. An intelligence support document that, while openly available for public consumption, is typically ignored by even engaged citizens, this will fascinate and enlighten readers interested in the armed forces, global geopolitics, and modern asymmetrical warfare. The U.S. ARMY TRAINING AND DOCTRINE COMMAND, also known as TRADOC, was founded in 1973, to train the soldiers and civilian leaders of the U.S. Army, to develop operational policy, and to anticipate future operational needs of the Army.

When the U.S. military invaded Iraq, it lacked a common understanding of the problems inherent in counterinsurgency campaigns. It had neither studied them, nor developed doctrine and tactics to deal with them. It is fair to say that in 2003, most Army officers knew more about the U.S. Civil War than they did about counterinsurgency.

The U.S. Army / Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual was written to fill that void. The result of unprecedented collaboration among top U.S. military experts, scholars, and practitioners in the field, the manual espouses an approach to combat that emphasizes constant adaptation and learning, the importance of decentralized decision-making, the need to understand local politics and customs, and the key role of intelligence in winning the support of the population. The manual also emphasizes the paradoxical and often counterintuitive nature of counterinsurgency operations: sometimes the more you protect your forces, the less secure you are; sometimes the more force you use, the less effective it is; sometimes doing nothing is the best reaction.