ABSTRACT Multilateral organizations rarely conduct counterinsurgency campaigns. But most contemporary cases have occurred in Africa. This article analyzes how several multilateral organizations conducted counterinsurgency in the east African theaters of south-central Somalia, northern Mozambique, and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. These multilateral counterinsurgency operations displayed considerable variation in the geographic extent of their operations, their mandated tasks, the size and duration of the mission, as well as their accomplishments. However, they were all heavily influenced by six common attributes that constrained their prospects for success, and which taken together make counterinsurgency a daunting task for even the most effective multilateral organizations.