The first book of its kind, Hearts and Minds is a scathing response to the grand narrative of U.S. counterinsurgency, in which warfare is defined not by military might alone but by winning the "hearts and minds" of civilians. Dormant as a tactic since the days of the Vietnam War, in 2006 the U.S. Army drafted a new field manual heralding the resurrection of counterinsurgency as a primary military engagement strategy; counterinsurgency campaigns followed in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite the fact that counterinsurgency had utterly failed to account for the actual lived experiences of the people whose hearts and minds America had sought to win. Drawing on leading thinkers in the field and using key examples from Malaya, the Philippines, Vietnam, El Salvador, Iraq, and Afghanistan, Hearts and Minds brings a long-overdue focus on the many civilians caught up in these conflicts. Both urgent and timely, this important book challenges the idea of a neat divide between insurgents and the populations from which they emerge-and should be required reading for anyone engaged in the most important contemporary debates over U.S. military policy.
"Counterinsurgency is a tactical phoenix, dying only to rise again, ever-ready to win hearts and minds for the American empire. This essential volume makes it possible to understand the past and prepare for the next time the siren song of counterinsurgency is sung."
Marilyn Young
"Hannah Gurman has assembled a groundbreaking volume filled with fresh perspectives and revealing insights. If you want to understand America's recent debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hearts and Minds is essential reading."
Nick Turse, author of Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam
"Essential reading for anyone who wants to see beyond the illusions about counterinsurgency warfare that the U.S. and British governments and media have sold their people. These histories show that, despite decades of occupations and well-funded and well-lauded strategic thinking, the hearts and minds of the occupied have remained beyond their militaries' ken and control."
Catherine Lutz, author of The Bases of Empire and a contributor to The Counter-Counterinsu
