This question was inspired by Col. Peter Mansoor's AMA today, specifically his comment that "The U.S. military might wish to refight the Normandy invasion and the drive across France and Germany in 1944 and 1945, but this kind of war is unlikely in the foreseeable future. As much as Americans might not like the type of wars waged in Afghanistan and Iraq since 9/11, they are closer to the future of war than World War II."
I'll try to ask my question in a way that encourages experts to share their knowledge: what are the different kinds of insurgencies and counter-insurgencies? have other countries successfully prosecuted counter-insurgency wars, and how?
Counterinsurgency can be very difficult to measure in victory and defeat. However, if we consider the defeat of the insurgency as victory in this context, then the most clear cut victory is the Philippine-American War (1899-1902). While this war started out as a conventional war, it ended as a counterinsurgency war with all the classical elements of colonial warfare mixed with early 20th century counterinsurgency. The US was also successful during the Banana Wars that occurred during the three first decades of the 20th century where USMC proved itself very valuable in the role - something which was eventually reflected during the Vietnam War and the USMC's Combined Action Program.
Your two additional questions are very broad, if I have to be honest. Do you have any more specific questions regarding counterinsurgency you'd like to know about? Here is a previous post I've written on counterinsurgency which I think will answer your third question very well.