The Haiti Stabilization Initiative (HSI) was an innovative interagency program prototype designed to secure and stabilize the highly volatile urban slum of Cité Soleil. Between 2007 and 2010, HSI successfully tested a sophisticated Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) program using a variant of the Department of Defense supported system Measuring Progress in Conflict Environment (MPICE). Through MPICE, HSI and its analysis partner Logos analyzed outcomes and impacts within key sectors. The analysis revealed that one needs a clear "theory of change." However, many stabilization or counterinsurgency programs do not evaluate themselves. They lack a provable hypothesis, and proving causality of change based on program efforts remains a challenge. Furthermore, it is critical to measure the achievement of "outcomes" within and across sectors, not just mechanical "outputs" of programs. It is also necessary to triangulate data and overlap sources. Toward that end, perception-based data (surveys, focus groups, expert elicitations sessions) and objective data (MINUSTAH statistics, crime reports) provided for a rich form of "triangulation" analysis.

The United States has spent billions to train and equip the Afghan security forces. As the transition to civilian-led reconstruction begins, effective and accountable security institutions are urgently needed to maintain operational and tactical gains. The Ministry of Defense Advisors (MoDA) program deploys senior DOD civilian specialists to advise officials in the Afghan government on critical issues including weapons auditing and logistics, legislative affairs, and food services. These are services essential to building enduring security institutions and strong civil-military partnerships. The MoDA program provides intensive predeployment training in cultural and mentoring skills and offers back-fill funds to advisors' home offices, helping ensure that the most qualified senior- and mid-level civilians are recruited for deployment.

Since the dawn of aviation, airpower has played an important role in counterinsurgency operations. This has been especially true as the security situations in Iraq and Afghanistan have deteriorated. While ground forces learned to reapply old lessons to a new environment, air support was reshaped to provide an asymmetric advantage. The capabilities that were developed have become indispensible for conducting a modern counterinsurgency effort. The proliferation of antiaccess and area denial capabilities along with long-range precision weaponry will result in greater challenges for all military operations, even COIN. Airpower will continue to provide critical support and must integrate lessons from operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.