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The United States has been engaged in the war in Iraq for more than thirty months now, but the nature of the war and the challenges it poses to coalition forces have not been consistent throughout that period. Initial resistance took the form of semi-organized, guerrilla-style raids, attacks, and ambushes, but the insurgents have changed their approach over time. With the exception of a handful of incidents of significant combat, the struggle has now taken the form primarily of an extensive terrorism campaign rather than a classic guerrilla war. This transition calls into question the utility of the historical models most frequently used to help understand the struggle and the possible techniques with which to fight it.
      
What alternative historical models can be used to consider the conflict in its current form? In particular, what lessons can be learned from the American post–Civil War reconstruction period, when Southern elites were similarly reluctant to accept a changed social, economic, and political order? What lessons can we learn from other efforts to combat revolutionary movements relying primarily on terrorism in Europe, or in Central America? How will we be able to judge our success in this new form of struggle? These and other questions will be the focus of a panel discussion with AEI resident fellow Thomas Donnelly; Andrew Garfield of the Lincoln Group; and Kalev Sepp, assistant professor at the Department of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School. AEI resident scholar Frederick W. Kagan will serve as moderator.