If you are reading COIN, a suggestion.

When you read insurgent / insurgency, think corruption (of all kinds, at all levels, using all means, but mainly with a goal of achieving power through psychological manipulation).

When you read counterinsurgent / counterinsurgency, think anti-corruption (countering all corruption, at all levels, using all means, but mainly with a goal of countering corruption by insurgents achieving power through psychological manipulation).

Your question...

Who are the actors?

The better question is... Who are not the actors?

Think of the world as one great play. "All The World's A Stage" is the name of the play. It is not called "Insurgency"... but it is insurgent. Through psychological manipulation almost anyone, regardless of age or gender, race or ethnicity, education or profession, class, political inclination, temperament, etc., etc., who watches the play, becomes a part of the play. How much depends on suggestibility. Some see the play and are deeply moved, some see the play and are philosophically challenged, some see the play and laugh, some cry. Same play.

But what if the play is specially written and acted. Instead of an entertainment for a random group, the play, though with standing room only. Is directed to manipulate one person. It could be a person in the audience. It could be one of the actors on the "world stage." And here is the message. There is a bomb in the theater. You must do what you are instructed to do. Not all the time, not in every matter. But within certain parameters, do as you please. But in certain matters at certain times, you will be instructed what to do... or the bomb will go off. Not tonight. Another night. Maybe when someone you love is in the audience. Because everyone wants to see the play. And there are other bombs, in other theaters. You won't find them. They were put in place when the theaters were built. And there are bombs built into cinemas, and sport stadiums... because, the insurgency has "people everywhere."

Do the actors on the stage even know they are sending this message? Does the director of the play know what he is directing? Does the producer know what he has financed the production of? That makes them all "mere players" on the stage and behind the curtain in the acting and production of the play they think they know the narrative plot of, but are in actuality ignorant of its true intent. And they act to the best of their ability to entertain but are acting with no knowledge of their true part in the play. And even the audience is a part of the play and they are totally unaware of the critical role they play.

How do you counter this? How do you counter this on a world wide stage? Close all the theaters, close all the cinemas, close all the sports stadiums world wide? How would you prepare the population of the world to accept closing down all its entertainment? How would you convince people all over the world, at the same time, that it is dangerous to watch plays, dangerous to watch movies, dangerous to go to sporting stadiums?

But you have been warned. If you tell anyone... boom. Boom, boom, boom. And to make matters worse, these are not ordinary bombs. They are all kinds of dirty bombs, filthy poisonous bombs. And every once in a while, to make their point, the insurgents make a plane fall out of the air, set a wild fire in a neighborhood, make a dam fail, or start an epidemic just to make a point... and squeeze to keep funding their every expanding spiderweb of control... though all manner of philanthropic and human rights organizations. And when anyone accidentally stumbles across the truth, accidents happen, reputations are ruined, lives are lost... its all part of the larger play buy acted out on the smaller stages of the world playhouse.

What do you do? You play along. You put your own agents in play. You infiltrate. You learn all there is to know about the insurgents. You learn their methods. You learn their secrets. You learn their capabilities. You learn their plots. And, slowly, every so slowly, insinuate the counterinsurgency into the very heart of the insurgency. And when the time is right, you introduce your own counterinsurgency play into the insurgency play... and trap the insurgents in their own narrative. A narrative trap they cannot break out of, because to break the fourth wall of the stage is break the spell cast over the audience and unwitting actors and producers of the play. And above all this must not be done, break the spell. When the spell is broken, truth can be revealed. If the audience becomes aware of the spell, of the psychological manipulation that has kept them spellbound, then it is the end of everything for the insurgents... and the counterinsurgency gets to change the name of the play... it is now a counterinsurgency narrative that casts its spell and in breaking the insurgents' spell, frees all for all time. It is a great awakening, this spell breaking.

The name of the counterinsurgency play within the play... it has many. I like one of the older titles, from another time.

The Mousetrap.

Who are the actors?

We are the actors.

If you are reading COIN, a suggestion.

When you read insurgent / insurgency, think corruption (of all kinds, at all levels, using all means, but mainly with a goal of achieving power through psychological manipulation).

When you read counterinsurgent / counterinsurgency, think anti-corruption (countering all corruption, at all levels, using all means, but mainly with a goal of countering corruption by insurgents achieving power through psychological manipulation).

Your question...

Who are the actors?

The better question is... Who are not the actors?

Think of the world as one great play. "All The World's A Stage" is the name of the play. It is not called "Insurgency"... but it is insurgent. Through psychological manipulation almost anyone, regardless of age or gender, race or ethnicity, education or profession, class, political inclination, temperament, etc., etc., who watches the play, becomes a part of the play. How much depends on suggestibility. Some see the play and are deeply moved, some see the play and are philosophically challenged, some see the play and laugh, some cry. Same play.

But what if the play is specially written and acted. Instead of an entertainment for a random group, the play, though with standing room only. Is directed to manipulate one person. It could be a person in the audience. It could be one of the actors on the "world stage." And here is the message. There is a bomb in the theater. You must do what you are instructed to do. Not all the time, not in every matter. But within certain parameters, do as you please. But in certain matters at certain times, you will be instructed what to do... or the bomb will go off. Not tonight. Another night. Maybe when someone you love is in the audience. Because everyone wants to see the play. And there are other bombs, in other theaters. You won't find them. They were put in place when the theaters were built. And there are bombs built into cinemas, and sport stadiums... because, the insurgency has "people everywhere."

Do the actors on the stage even know they are sending this message? Does the director of the play know what he is directing? Does the producer know what he has financed the production of? That makes them all "mere players" on the stage and behind the curtain in the acting and production of the play they think they know the narrative plot of, but are in actuality ignorant of its true intent. And they act to the best of their ability to entertain but are acting with no knowledge of their true part in the play. And even the audience is a part of the play and they are totally unaware of the critical role they play.

How do you counter this? How do you counter this on a world wide stage? Close all the theaters, close all the cinemas, close all the sports stadiums world wide? How would you prepare the population of the world to accept closing down all its entertainment? How would you convince people all over the world, at the same time, that it is dangerous to watch plays, dangerous to watch movies, dangerous to go to sporting stadiums?

But you have been warned. If you tell anyone... boom. Boom, boom, boom. And to make matters worse, these are not ordinary bombs. They are all kinds of dirty bombs, filthy poisonous bombs. And every once in a while, to make their point, the insurgents make a plane fall out of the air, set a wild fire in a neighborhood, make a dam fail, or start an epidemic just to make a point... and squeeze to keep funding their every expanding spiderweb of control... though all manner of philanthropic and human rights organizations. And when anyone accidentally stumbles across the truth, accidents happen, reputations are ruined, lives are lost... its all part of the larger play buy acted out on the smaller stages of the world playhouse.

What do you do? You play along. You put your own agents in play. You infiltrate. You learn all there is to know about the insurgents. You learn their methods. You learn their secrets. You learn their capabilities. You learn their plots. And, slowly, every so slowly, insinuate the counterinsurgency into the very heart of the insurgency. And when the time is right, you introduce your own counterinsurgency play into the insurgency play... and trap the insurgents in their own narrative. A narrative trap they cannot break out of, because to break the fourth wall of the stage is break the spell cast over the audience and unwitting actors and producers of the play. And above all this must not be done, break the spell. When the spell is broken, truth can be revealed. If the audience becomes aware of the spell, of the psychological manipulation that has kept them spellbound, then it is the end of everything for the insurgents... and the counterinsurgency gets to change the name of the play... it is now a counterinsurgency narrative that casts its spell and in breaking the insurgents' spell, frees all for all time. It is a great awakening, this spell breaking.

The name of the counterinsurgency play within the play... it has many. I like one of the older titles, from another time.

The Mousetrap.

Who are the actors?

We are the actors.

If you are reading COIN, a suggestion.

When you read insurgent / insurgency, think corruption (of all kinds, at all levels, using all means, but mainly with a goal of achieving power through psychological manipulation).

When you read counterinsurgent / counterinsurgency, think anti-corruption (countering all corruption, at all levels, using all means, but mainly with a goal of countering corruption by insurgents achieving power through psychological manipulation).

Your question...

Who are the actors?

The better question is... Who are not the actors?

Think of the world as one great play. "All The World's A Stage" is the name of the play. It is not called "Insurgency"... but it is insurgent. Through psychological manipulation almost anyone, regardless of age or gender, race or ethnicity, education or profession, class, political inclination, temperament, etc., etc., who watches the play, becomes a part of the play. How much depends on suggestibility. Some see the play and are deeply moved, some see the play and are philosophically challenged, some see the play and laugh, some cry. Same play.

But what if the play is specially written and acted. Instead of an entertainment for a random group, the play, though with standing room only. Is directed to manipulate one person. It could be a person in the audience. It could be one of the actors on the "world stage." And here is the message. There is a bomb in the theater. You must do what you are instructed to do. Not all the time, not in every matter. But within certain parameters, do as you please. But in certain matters at certain times, you will be instructed what to do... or the bomb will go off. Not tonight. Another night. Maybe when someone you love is in the audience. Because everyone wants to see the play. And there are other bombs, in other theaters. You won't find them. They were put in place when the theaters were built. And there are bombs built into cinemas, and sport stadiums... because, the insurgency has "people everywhere."

Do the actors on the stage even know they are sending this message? Does the director of the play know what he is directing? Does the producer know what he has financed the production of? That makes them all "mere players" on the stage and behind the curtain in the acting and production of the play they think they know the narrative plot of, but are in actuality ignorant of its true intent. And they act to the best of their ability to entertain but are acting with no knowledge of their true part in the play. And even the audience is a part of the play and they are totally unaware of the critical role they play.

How do you counter this? How do you counter this on a world wide stage? Close all the theaters, close all the cinemas, close all the sports stadiums world wide? How would you prepare the population of the world to accept closing down all its entertainment? How would you convince people all over the world, at the same time, that it is dangerous to watch plays, dangerous to watch movies, dangerous to go to sporting stadiums?

But you have been warned. If you tell anyone... boom. Boom, boom, boom. And to make matters worse, these are not ordinary bombs. They are all kinds of dirty bombs, filthy poisonous bombs. And every once in a while, to make their point, the insurgents make a plane fall out of the air, set a wild fire in a neighborhood, make a dam fail, or start an epidemic just to make a point... and squeeze to keep funding their every expanding spiderweb of control... though all manner of philanthropic and human rights organizations. And when anyone accidentally stumbles across the truth, accidents happen, reputations are ruined, lives are lost... its all part of the larger play buy acted out on the smaller stages of the world playhouse.

What do you do? You play along. You put your own agents in play. You infiltrate. You learn all there is to know about the insurgents. You learn their methods. You learn their secrets. You learn their capabilities. You learn their plots. And, slowly, every so slowly, insinuate the counterinsurgency into the very heart of the insurgency. And when the time is right, you introduce your own counterinsurgency play into the insurgency play... and trap the insurgents in their own narrative. A narrative trap they cannot break out of, because to break the fourth wall of the stage is break the spell cast over the audience and unwitting actors and producers of the play. And above all this must not be done, break the spell.When the spell is broken, truth can be revealed. If the audience becomes aware of the spell, of the psychological manipulation that has kept them spellbound, then it is the end of everything for the insurgents... and the counterinsurgency gets to change the name of the play... it is now a counterinsurgency narrative that casts its spell and in breaking the insurgents' spell, frees all for all time. It is a great awakening, this spell breaking.

The name of the counterinsurgency play within the play... it has many. I like one of the older titles, from another time.

The Mousetrap.

Who are the actors?

We are the actors.

If you are reading COIN, a suggestion.

When you read insurgent / insurgency, think corruption (of all kinds, at all levels, using all means, but mainly with a goal of achieving power through psychological manipulation).

When you read counterinsurgent / counterinsurgency, think anti-corruption (countering all corruption, at all levels, using all means, but mainly with a goal of countering corruption of insurgents achieving power through psychological manipulation).

Your question...

Who are the actors?

The better question is... Who are not the actors?

Think of the world as one great play. "All The World's A Stage" is the name of the play. It is not called "Insurgency"... but it is insurgent. Through psychological manipulation almost anyone, regardless of age or gender, race or ethnicity, education or profession, class, political inclination, temperament, etc., etc., who watches the play, becomes a part of the play. How much depends on suggestibility. Some see the play and are deeply moved, some see the play and are philosophically challenged, some see the play and laugh, some cry. Same play.

But what if the play is specially written and acted. Instead of an entertainment for a random group, the play, though with standing room only. Is directed to manipulate one person. It could be a person in the audience. It could be one of the actors on the "world stage." And here is the message. There is a bomb in the theater. You must do what you are instructed to do. Not all the time, not in every matter. But within certain parameters, do as you please. But in certain matters at certain times, you will be instructed what to do... or the bomb will go off. Not tonight. Another night. Maybe when someone you love is in the audience. Because everyone wants to see the play. And there are other bombs, in other theaters. You won't find them. They were put in place when the theaters were built. And there are bombs built into cinemas, and sport stadiums... because, the insurgency has "people everywhere."

Do the actors on the stage even know they are sending this message? Does the director of the play know what he is directing? Does the producer know what he has financed the production of? That makes them all "mere players" on the stage and behind the curtain in the acting and production of the play they think they know the narrative plot of, but are in actuality ignorant of its true intent. And they act to the best of their ability to entertain but are acting with no knowledge of their true part in the play. And even the audience is a part of the play and they are totally unaware of the critical role they play.

How do you counter this? How do you counter this on a world wide stage? Close all the theaters, close all the cinemas, close all the sports stadiums world wide? How would you prepare the population of the world to accept closing down all its entertainment? How would you convince people all over the world, at the same time, that it is dangerous to watch plays, dangerous to watch movies, dangerous to go to sporting stadiums?

But you have been warned. If you tell anyone... boom. Boom, boom, boom. And to make matters worse, these are not ordinary bombs. They are all kinds of dirty bombs, filthy poisonous bombs. And every once in a while, to make their point, the insurgents make a plane fall out of the air, set a wild fire in a neighborhood, make a dam fail, or start an epidemic just to make a point... and squeeze to keep funding their every expanding spiderweb of control... though all manner of philanthropic and human rights organizations. And when anyone accidentally stumbles across the truth, accidents happen, reputations are ruined, lives are lost... its all part of the larger play buy acted out on the smaller stages of the world playhouse.

What do you do? You play along. You put your own agents in play. You infiltrate. You learn all there is to know about the insurgents. You learn their methods. You learn their secrets. You learn their capabilities. You learn their plots. And, slowly, every so slowly, insinuate the counterinsurgency into the very heart of the insurgency. And when the time is right, you introduce your own counterinsurgency play into the insurgency play... and trap the insurgents in their own narrative. A narrative trap they cannot break out of, because to break the fourth wall of the stage is break the spell cast over the audience and unwitting actors and producers of the play. And above all this must not be done, break the spell.When the spell is broken, truth can be revealed. If the audience becomes aware of the spell, of the psychological manipulation that has kept them spellbound, then it is the end of everything for the insurgents... and the counterinsurgency gets to change the name of the play... it is now a counterinsurgency narrative that casts its spell and in breaking the insurgents' spell, frees all for all time. It is a great awakening, this spell breaking.

The name of the counterinsurgency play within the play... it has many. I like one of the older titles, from another time.

The Mousetrap.

Who are the actors?

We are the actors.