Learning by Doing: The Pakistan Army’s Experience with Counterinsurgency

In the South Asia Center report “Learning by Doing: The Pakistan Army’s Experience with Counterinsurgency,” Center Director and author Shuja Nawaz examines the doctrinal shift toward counterinsurgency (COIN) that has taken place in the Pakistan army in recent years.
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The army appears to have learned many lessons from its experiences in Swat in 2008 and is now altering its approach and training system to fighting a homegrown insurgency and the rising threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Mr. Nawaz has traveled widely in Pakistan, speaking with people in the field and at training establishments to gauge the extent of the transformation of the Pakistan Army that will allow it to battle insurgency and militancy within its borders.