Just in time for Christmas for the military geek on your list: The U.S. military has released its first new counterinsurgency manual in at least 20 years.

Here's the actual document, simply titled Counterinsurgency.

An excerpt from the BBC story:

A spokesman for the US Army's institutes of military education said the manual "codifies a lot of what's happening in the field already".

Col Steve Boylan said it reflected the changing nature of war, which goes beyond traditional fighting into reconstruction and nation-building.

US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have faced criticism for being heavy-handed and for sometimes failing to discriminate between insurgents and civilians.

"It's this part - nation-building, counter-insurgency - which is the hard stuff that we haven't trained for," Col Boylan said.

The guide, written with input from humanitarian agencies and media organisations, underlines the importance of integrating civilian and military activities.

"Political, social, and economic programmes are usually more valuable than conventional military operations in addressing the root causes of conflict and undermining an insurgency," it reads.