As part of our continuing look at counter-insurgency and nation building, we speak with Ganesh Sitaraman, Assistant Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University, and author of The Counterinsurgent‘s Constitution: Law in the Age of Small Wars.
In the wake of 9/11, the argument was often made that because terrorists did not adhere to the rules of war that meant that we did not need to either. (Here I’m assuming that terrorists don’t listen to The Bryan Callen Show.) While there are many moral arguments for adhering to the rules of law, Sitaraman makes the point that holding to law even when your enemies don’t is excellent strategy. In an insurgency, the competition is for legitimacy in the eyes of the population and the side that adheres to the rules and abide by the highest principles will win the hearts and minds of the population.
The Counterinsurgent‘s Constitution: Law in the Age of Small Wars is available on Amazon. You can follow him on twitter at @GaneshSitaraman.