Assessing Freedom of Movement for Counterinsurgency Campaigns

This report examines the ways in which military staffs might assess freedom of movement within the framework of a counterinsurgency COIN campaign assessment. The RAND Corporation has supported the development of military campaign assessment methodology and has directly participated in the assessment of the Vietnam, Gulf War, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan campaigns. Therefore, this report reflects both original research and findings drawn from the cumulative body of RAND work on the subject of military assessment. The results will be of interest to military staffs, policymakers, and subject-matter experts engaged in attempting to assess the Afghanistan COIN campaign, but the information and findings presented here are also intended to contribute to the broader COIN literature. Some or all of the findings in this report might be generalizable to prospective or other ongoing COIN campaigns.