This monograph considers the patterns of insurgency in the past by way of establishing how much the conflict in Iraq conforms to previous experience. In particular, the author compares and contrasts Iraq with previous Middle Eastern insurgencies such as those in Palestine, Aden, the Dhofar province of Oman, Algeria, and Lebanon. He suggests that there is much that can be learned from British, French, and Israeli experience. The monograph was delivered by invitation at the 15th Annual Strategy Conference of the U.S. Army War College in April 2004. It derived from work undertaken while the author was occupying the Major General Matthew C. Horner Chair of Military Theory at the U.S. Marine Corps University, Quantico, Virginia. The Strategic Studies Institute is pleased to offer this contribution to the debate on insurgencies, past and present.