Alexander Alderson
Alexander Alderson is a Colonel in the British Army. He 'leads the team which is currently updating the British Army's counterinsurgency doctrine'. According to Alderson the team also includes Brigadier Gavin Bulloch, the Army's 'pre-eminent doctrine writer', Dr. Daniel Marston, leader of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst's COIN team, and Lieutenant Colonel Marcus Good[1] All four are members of the King's College London, Insurgency Research Group which brings together serving military officers, academics and people from think tanks such as RUSI and mercenery firms such as Aegis.[2]
Quotes
- A number of commanders make the point that minimum force does not mean not using force. If a bomb is required, use a bomb[3]
Counterinsurgency doctrine and academic analysis
David Miller and Tom Mills discuss the revision of British Army counterinsurgency doctrine by Alexander Alderson, Gavin Bulloch, Daniel Marston and Marcus Good as an example of the integration of academic expertise into military work. Their identification of the team draws on Alderson’s 2007 account.[4] The Insurgency Research Group’s own historical membership list includes Alexander Alderson, alongside the other three members of the doctrine-revision team.[5]
Affiliations
- runs the Warfare Development Group at the Land Warfare Centre[6]
Publications
- Alderson, A. 'Revising the British Army's Counter-indurgency doctrine', RUSI Journal August 2007, 152(4)
- Alexander Alderson US COIN doctrine and practice: an ally's perspective Parameters, Winter, 2007 by
- Alexander Alderson Learning, Adapting, Applying: US Counter-Insurgency Doctrine and Practice RUSI Journal Dec 2007, Vol. 152, No. 6
- Alexander Alderson et al (2009) British Army Field Manual Volume 1 Part 10 Countering Insurgency, Army Code 71876 October 2009, Crown Copyright.
Notes
- ↑ Alderson, A. 'Revising the British Army's Counter-indurgency doctrine', RUSI Journal August 2007, 152(4)
- ↑ It should be noted that King's college incorporates the UK Defence Academy including the Joint Services Command and Staff College at Shrivenham, meaning that the line between academia and the military is abolished.
- ↑ Alderson, A. 'Revising the British Army's Counter-indurgency doctrine', RUSI Journal August 2007, 152(4)
- ↑ David Miller and Tom Mills, Counterinsurgency and terror expertise: the integration of social scientists into the war effort, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 23(2), June 2010, pp. 214–215, doi:10.1080/09557571.2010.481664. The team identification is sourced there to Alexander Alderson, “Revising the British Army’s Counter-Insurgency Doctrine”, The RUSI Journal, 152(4), 2007, pp. 6–11, especially p. 10; cited indirectly.
- ↑ Insurgency Research Group, IRG Members, undated historical membership list, accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ Alderson, A. 'Revising the British Army's Counter-indurgency doctrine', RUSI Journal August 2007, 152(4)