ALLIES Hosts Panel on the "Future of Counterinsurgency"

On September 30, ALLIES hosted a group of experts for a panel on the "Future of Counterinsurgency." Students from the Fletcher school, as well as both the Tufts and Wellesley ALLIES chapters, were invited to participate in the hour-long panel. The group addressed questions looking at the legacy of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, with a focus on how those experiences would affect future "Stability Operations." The event garnered roughly 40 people in total. The panel included Col. Andrew Zacherl (an Army War College fellow at the Fletcher School), Steve Henthorne (a Senior Advisor at the NATO CIMIC Center of Excellence), and Dr. Montgomery McFate (a professor and the current Minerva Chair at the Naval War College). In addition to examining questions of counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine, the panelists also looked at the historical context of US COIN operations, as well as the impact of current conflicts in the MENA region on the evolution of COIN. Students also had roughly 20 minutes after the presentations to ask the panelists questions, followed by a meet-and-greet discussion afterwards with light refreshments.