Book Review: ‘Knife Fights: A Memoir of Modern War in Theory and Practice’ by Rosa Brooks, Washington Post
In the U.S. military, as in the fashion world, there are trends and fads, and woe betide the poor sap still clad in last season’s styles. Less than a decade ago, counterinsurgency doctrine (COIN, to aficionados) was the hottest thing going in military intellectual circles. But years of inconclusive conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan turned COIN — with its emphasis on population protection and the establishment of legitimate and effective governance structure — into the military equivalent of Benetton sweaters and Guess jeans: expensive, unflattering and more than a little embarrassing…