CT vs COIN? Engaging with civilians in Afghanistan

One of the principal distinctions between counter-terrorism (CT) and counterinsurgency (COIN) approaches is how to engage with civilians. In the CT approach, civilians may surround and even support the opponent, but they are not deemed central actors in the conflict. The conflict instead remains between the terrorists and the CT forces and the aim of the latter is to destroy the terrorists’ capability, while harming as few civilians as possible. In COIN, civilians are a central part of the conflict in which, alongside fighting, a political battle is waged to convince civilians to withdraw their support from the insurgents. The aim of this chapter is to examine how the attitudes and engagement with civilians in Afghanistan evolved over the two decades of fighting, focusing on the ‘Hearts and Minds’ logic and how it has been put into practice across political, economic, and social programs. The chapter focuses in particular on programs aimed at convincing Afghan women to support the ISAF counter-insurgency operation and assumptions made about gender in these programs. The fundamental question posed is, what have we learned from this case for future interventions?