Soft Counterinsurgency ― Human Terrain Teams and US Military Strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan

'Soft' Counterinsurgency reviews the promise and actual achievement of Human Terrain Teams, the small groups of social scientists that were eventually embedded in every combat brigade in Iraq and Afghanistan. The book, based on interviews with both HTT personnel and their military commanders, examines the military's need for sociocultural information, the ethical issues surrounding research carried out in combat zones, and the tensions between military and social science organizational cultures. The account provides a close, detailed account of HTT activities, a critical reflection on the possibilities of creating a 'softer,' less violent counterinsurgency, and the difficulty of attempting to make war more 'intelligent' and discriminating.

Paul Joseph is Professor of Sociology at Tufts University, USA.