ISSRA Papers 2010 14 STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION IN COUNTER INSURGENCY OPERATIONS (COIN) Afifa Kiran Abstract The concept of strategic communication evolved in the West to understand/engage foreign audiences and influence the targeted population for the support of their overseas military operations. It is regarded as an instrument of statecraft to facilitate the governments in order to influence the perceptions, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of stakeholders, non-state groups, neutrals, in support of national security policies. In this premise, this paper discusses the role of strategic communication in counter insurgency operations. Introduction During the cold war era, power blocks were involved in direct confrontation with each other. Both the United States and other Western powers (Britain, most notably) developed a robust infrastructure for waging a ‘‘war of ideas’’ against the communist ideology being promulgated by the Soviet Union and its allies. 1 But 21 st century conflicts are very different from 20th century conflicts. Counterinsurgency (COIN), terrorism and counterterrorism (CT), foreign internal defense (FID), psychological operations (PSYOP), civil military operations (CMO), strategic communication, information operations (IO), intelligence and counterintelligence activities have become key elements in formulation the polices, strategies, and operations of present-day governments confronting