The United States military has conducted counterinsurgency campaigns against violent Islamic extremists for the last eight years and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. However, communication-minded, technology-savvy, insurgencies have generally outperformed the military in strategic communication. The U.S. military generally conducts strategic communication in counterinsurgency operations from a culture of reticence that ensures that communication and information operations are ineffective and reactive in nature. Counterinsurgent forces should adopt a culture of engagement in order to seize the strategic communication initiative from the insurgent and increase operational effectiveness. Colombia provides a clear example of a counterinsurgent that has seized the strategic communication initiative from the FARC by successfully adopting a culture of engagement that is proactive, leader-driven, innovative, adaptive, and sustainable. Despite making significant progress in recent years in adapting to the operational environment and moving towards a culture of engagement, these changes are not yet holistic and have not allowed the military to seize the initiative in strategic communication.
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