Counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan and gender

Abstract

This chapter provides an introduction to the relationship between gender and counterinsurgency. It demonstrates how gender dynamics are important to study as a means to fully understand the theory, doctrine and practice of counterinsurgency. It begins by explaining the core tenets of this form of warfare and its underlying colonial logics. Following this, it focuses in particular on recent ‘population-centric’ approaches to counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan, and discusses its various manifestations of military masculinities, emphasising on ‘cultural sensitivity’ and the recent invention of Female Engagement Teams