Insurgency Research Group

According to the King's college website:

The Insurgency Research Group (IRG) is led by Dr John Mackinlay and Dr David Betz. It was established in 2007 in response to the revival of interest in insurgency and counter-insurgency in the military and government. The group's membership is primarily within the War Studies Group but also includes members of the Development, Doctrine and Concepts Centre (Shrivenham), the Land Warfare Centre (Warminster), Oxford University, Reading University and Birmingham University. Members of the group are engaged in research on strategic communication and information warfare, the development of effects-based approaches to operational planning, insurgency and counter-insurgency in Iraq, European Military Transformation, air power and intelligence in counter-insurgency warfare, the 'Virtual Insurgent', strategic theory and insurgency.

The IRG supports a vibrant cohort of research students engaged in work on innovation/decision making processes of state bureaucracies and insurgency cell structures, military effectiveness in complex irregular warfare, Al Qaeda's strategic communication, a tactical and operational military history of Hezbollah, leadership and the evolution of the British Army's approach to Small Wars, 1945-75, and COIN operations in South Asia. The Group has been closely involved with the development of UK thinking on doctrinal development.

In June 2007, the IRG hosted the second of two UK Army COIN Doctrine Workshop, one of which was funded by the ESRC under the 'New Security Challenges' Programme. The group has sponsored a series of guest lectures by leading figures in the field including Lt Gen Sir John Kiszely, Frank Hoffman, Col. Ike Wilson, LCOL John Nagl, Michael Noonan and others.