This monograph considers the patterns of insurgency in the past by way
of establishing how much the conflict in Iraq conforms to previous
experience. In particular, the author compares and contrasts Iraq with
previous Middle Eastern insurgencies such as those in Palestine, Aden,
the Dhofar province of Oman, Algeria, and Lebanon. He suggests that
there is much that can be learned from British, French, and Israeli
experience. The monograph was delivered by invitation at the 15th Annual
Strategy Conference of the U.S. Army War College in April 2004. It
derived from work undertaken while the author was occupying the Major
General Matthew C. Horner Chair of Military Theory at the U.S. Marine
Corps University, Quantico, Virginia. The Strategic Studies Institute is
pleased to offer this contribution to the debate on insurgencies, past
and present.