The Insurgent S Dilemma

Author : DAVID H. UCKO
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2021-12-16
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1787385655

Get Book

The Insurgent's Dilemma by DAVID H. UCKO Pdf

Despite attracting great hype and headlines, insurgents rarely win. Even when they successfully claim territory and usurp governmental prerogatives, they typically face a military backlash too powerful to withstand. States struggle with addressing the political roots of such insurgencies, and their military efforts mostly just 'mow the grass', yet for the insurgent the grass is nonetheless mowed--and the armed struggle must start over again.This is the insurgent's dilemma: the difficulty of asserting oneself as a start-up, of violently challenging authority, and of establishing oneself sustainably as the new source of power, without suffering devastation along the way. In the face of this challenge, some insurgents are learning new ways to ply their trade. As a result, while all states lament the poor track record of recent counterinsurgency campaigns, even greater trouble may still lie ahead. Insurgency is being reinvented--tailored to the vulnerabilities of our times, and with new strategic salience for tomorrow. As successful approaches are copied, refined and repurposed, what we think of as counterinsurgency will also need to change. 'The Insurgent's Dilemma' explores three emerging insurgent strategies that will force a new response, along with fresh thinking about political violence in the twenty-first century.

Author : David H. Ucko
Publisher : Hurst Publishers
Page : 495 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2022-02-24
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781787387836

Get Book

The Insurgent’s Dilemma by David H. Ucko Pdf

Despite attracting headlines and hype, insurgents rarely win. Even when they claim territory and threaten governmental writ, they typically face a military backlash too powerful to withstand. States struggle with addressing the political roots of such movements, and their military efforts mostly just ‘mow the grass’; yet, for the insurgent, the grass is nonetheless mowed–and the armed project must start over. This is the insurgent’s dilemma: the difficulty of asserting oneself, of violently challenging authority, and of establishing sustainable power. In the face of this dilemma, some insurgents are learning new ways to ply their trade. With subversion, spin and disinformation claiming centre stage, insurgency is being reinvented, to exploit the vulnerabilities of our times and gain new strategic salience for tomorrow. As the most promising approaches are refined and repurposed, what we think of as counterinsurgency will also need to change. The Insurgent’s Dilemma explores three particularly adaptive strategies and their implications for response. These emerging strategies target the state where it is weak and sap its power, sometimes without it noticing. There are options for response, but fresh thinking is urgently needed–about society, legitimacy and political violence itself.

Author : David H. Ucko
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 496 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2022-06-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780197655924

Get Book

The Insurgent's Dilemma by David H. Ucko Pdf

Despite attracting headlines and hype, insurgents rarely win. Even when they claim territory and threaten governmental writ, they typically face a military backlash too powerful to withstand. States struggle with addressing the political roots of such movements, and their military efforts mostly just "mow the grass," yet, for the insurgent, the grass is nonetheless mowed-and the armed project must start over. This is the insurgent's dilemma: the difficulty of asserting oneself, of violently challenging authority, and of establishing sustainable power. In the face of this dilemma, some insurgents are learning new ways to ply their trade. With subversion, spin and disinformation claiming centre stage, insurgency is being reinvented, to exploit the vulnerabilities of our times and gain new strategic salience for tomorrow. As the most promising approaches are refined and repurposed, what we think of as counterinsurgency will also need to change. The Insurgent's Dilemma explores three particularly adaptive strategies and their implications for response. These emerging strategies target the state where it is weak and sap its power, sometimes without it noticing. There are options for response, but fresh thinking is urgently needed-about society, legitimacy and political violence itself.

Author : Mark T. Berger,Douglas A. Borer
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 286 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2013-09-13
Category : History
ISBN : 9781317990932

Get Book

The Long War - Insurgency, Counterinsurgency and Collapsing States by Mark T. Berger,Douglas A. Borer Pdf

The rise and fall of the Cold War coincided with the universalization and consolidation of the modern nation-state as the key unit of the wider international system. A key characteristic of the post-Cold War era, in which the US has emerged as the sole superpower, is the growing number of collapsing or collapsed states. A growing number of states are, or have become, mired in conflict or civil war, the antecedents of which are often to be found in the late-colonial and Cold War era. At the same time, US foreign policy (and the actions of other organizations such as the United Nations) may well be compounding state failure in the context of the post-9/11 Global War on Terror (GWOT) or what is also increasingly referred to as the ‘Long War’. The Long War is often represented as a ‘new’ era in warfare and geopolitics. This book acknowledges that the Long War is new in important respects, but it also emphasizes that the Long War bears many similarities to the Cold War. A key similarity is the way in which insurgency and counterinsurgency were and continue to be seen primarily in the context of inter-state rivalry in which the critical local or regional dynamics of revolution and counter-revolution are marginalized or neglected. In this context American policy-makers and their allies have again erroneously applied a ‘grand strategy’ that suits the imperatives of conventional military and geo-political thinking rather than engaging with what are a much more variegated array of problems facing the changing global order. This book provides a collection of well-integrated studies that shed light on the history and future of insurgency, counterinsurgency and collapsing states in the context of the Long War. This book was previously published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.

Author : Michael A. Innes
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 388 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2021-12-01
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780197644188

Get Book

Streets Without Joy by Michael A. Innes Pdf

America's wars after the 9/11 attacks were marked by a political obsession with terrorist 'sanctuaries' and 'safe havens'. From mountain redoubts in Afghanistan to the deserts of Iraq, Washington's policy-makers maintained an unwavering focus on finding and destroying the refuges, bases and citadels of modern guerrilla movements, and holding their sponsors to account. This was a preoccupation embedded in nearly every official speech and document of the time, a corpus of material that offered a new logic for thinking about the world. As an exercise in political communication, it was a spectacular success. From 2001 to 2009, President George W. Bush and his closest advisors set terms of reference that cascaded down from the White House, through government and into the hearts and minds of Americans. 'Sanctuary' was the red thread running through all of it, permeating the decisions and discourses of the day. Where did this obsession come from? How did it become such an important feature of American political life? In this new political history, Michael A. Innes explores precedents, from Saigon to Baghdad, and traces how decision-makers and their advisors used ideas of sanctuary to redefine American foreign policy, national security, and enemies real and imagined.

Author : Michael Radu
Publisher : Transaction Publishers
Page : 450 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2024-06-10
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1412821711

Get Book

Dilemmas of Democracy and Dictatorship by Michael Radu Pdf

The phenomenon of globalization applies to political violence as well as to more benign aspects of life. Most people in the West, as well as the Third World, politicians and media included, are still missing this point. As a result, they are failing to adapt to the new realities--unlike their enemies. Dilemmas of Democracy and Dictatorship is a collection of essays Radu has published over the past decade. Some are opinion pieces; others are academic articles. The topics include political violence and terrorism in general, and in specific areas--Latin America, the Balkans, Turkey, Sub-Saharan Africa, Western and Eastern Europe. Radu discusses the causes and methods of contemporary terrorism, the process of state decay in some African countries, and mentalities and absurdities in Latin and Balkan politics. He also points out Western European illusions, delusions, and attitudes, and reviews American policy and confusion in dealing with the Third World. At times the analysis is political, other times military, and often it is sociological or psychological. In the author's words he is "always politically incorrect." The approach is multidisciplinary. What ties these disparate essays together is Radu's personal experience--both as a field researcher and in a few cases as a participant in ongoing events, and his personal idiosyncrasies, opinions, and perception of areas visited. These essays clearly demonstrate that in the face of globalization the world is not a village but a conglomerate of differences. This volume will be of particular interest to students of political violence, insurgency/guerrilla warfare, and Third World politics, journalists, and policymakers. Michael S. Radu is senior fellow and co-chairman of the Center on Terrorism at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia. Educated in communist Romania and at Columbia University, he has taught in the United States and South Africa. He has traveled to over forty countries doing research on local politics and political violence and has served as electoral observer in four countries, including as a UN observer in Cambodia. He is the author or editor of ten books.

Author : Max Taylor,P.M. Currie
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 196 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2012-08-16
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781441173423

Get Book

Terrorism and Affordance by Max Taylor,P.M. Currie Pdf

In this groundbreaking work, leading scholars and experts set out to explore the utility of the concept of affordance in the study and understanding of terrorism and political violence. Affordance is a concept used in a variety of fields, from psychology to artificial intelligence, which refers to how the quality of an environment or object allows an individual to perform a specific action. This concept can represent an important element in the process of choice involved in behavior, and is closely related to situational analyses of criminal behavior. In this book, the contributors set out to explore how this concept can be used to study terrorism and, as a result, develop management strategies. Essays discuss such topics as affordance in relation to counterterrorism, technology, cyber-jihad, ideology, and political ecologies. By importing the concept of affordance and a new set of research to the study of terrorism, the authors offer an innovative and original work that challenges and adds to various aspects of situational crime prevention and counterterrorism.

Author : Rex Brynen
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2019-07-11
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781000310672

Get Book

Sanctuary And Survival by Rex Brynen Pdf

This book analyses the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) "Lebanese era" and its aftermath, of the changing position of the Palestinian nationalist movement in Lebanon. It presents the PLO's efforts to maintain for itself a secure political and military base of operations in Lebanon.

Author : Colin S. Gray
Publisher : Potomac Books, Inc.
Page : 471 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2011-09
Category : History
ISBN : 9781597976541

Get Book

National Security Dilemmas by Colin S. Gray Pdf

A contemporary primer on the leading arguments about U.S. national security, National Security Dilemmas addresses the major challenges and opportunities that are live-issue areas for American policymakers and strategists today. Colin S. Gray provides an in-depth analysis of a policy and strategy for deterrence; the long-term U.S. bid to transform its armed forces' capabilities, with particular reference to strategic surprise, in the face of many great uncertainties; the difficulty of understanding and exploiting the challenge of revolutionary change in warfare; the problems posed by enemies who fight using irregular methods; and the awesome dilemmas for U.S. policy over the options to wage preventive and preemptive warfare. With forty years' experience as a strategist, within and outside of government, Gray uses a problem-solving motif throughout the book, suggesting solutions to the challenges he identifies. The book's master narrative is that the United States must take a more considered strategic approach to its security dilemmas. Too often, the country's leaders decide on a policy and then move to take action, all the while neglecting to devise a plan that would connect its political purposes to military means. While many of Gray's judgments here are critical of current ideas and behavior, he crafted them as helpful guides should planners adopt them when revising policies and approaches. Strategy is a practical matter; truly it is the zone wherein theory meets practice. This text can be used as an expert guide to the major national security challenges of today. It both explains the structure of these challenges and provides useful answers. With a foreword by Lt. Gen. Paul K. Van Riper, USMC (Ret.), Bren Chair, Marine Corps University, Quantico, Virginia.

Author : Hermine G. De Soto,Nora Dudwick
Publisher : Univ of Wisconsin Press
Page : 270 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2000
Category : Ethnology
ISBN : 0299163741

Get Book

Fieldwork Dilemmas by Hermine G. De Soto,Nora Dudwick Pdf

Author : Jean-François Caron
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Page : 134 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2023-01-30
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9783110757569

Get Book

The Moral Dilemmas of Fighting Terrorism and Guerrilla Groups by Jean-François Caron Pdf

The Moral Dilemmas of Fighting Terrorism and Guerrilla Groups discusses the most important ethical dilemmas associated with the fight against terrorist organizations and guerilla groups by providing readers with a rigorous, yet accessible analysis of how these forms of violence can be justified and how they ought to be fought by entities targeted by groups resorting to these strategies. It will be valuable to anyone interested in understanding the main ethical questions associated with these forms of political violence and the way they can be addressed. After providing conceptual clarifications that will allow the reader to distinguish between terrorism and guerrilla warfare, it explains and discusses what the criteria are that can justify resorting to lethal violence on the part of the latter group as well as the criteria that can determine the identity of those who can legitimately be targeted by these groups. The book analyzes when terrorists ought to be targeted and how this can be done, focusing on the inherent problems associated with the solutions that are normally used against state actors in order to prevent attacks on their part, namely what can be coined as “non-violent alternatives to war”, such as economic or diplomatic sanctions, arm embargoes and non-violent resistance and, on the other hand, preemptive attacks.

Author : Hafeez Malik
Publisher : Springer
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 1993-03-30
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781349226740

Get Book

Dilemmas of National Security and Cooperation in India and Pakistan by Hafeez Malik Pdf

Author : Michael L. Gross
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 337 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2010
Category : History
ISBN : 9780521866156

Get Book

Moral Dilemmas of Modern War by Michael L. Gross Pdf

A practical guide for policy makers, military officers, students, and anyone else interested in asymmetric conflicts.

Author : C Raja Mohan,Hernaikh Singh
Publisher : World Scientific
Page : 138 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2023-01-04
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9789811263736

Get Book

Coping With China-india Rivalry: South Asian Dilemmas by C Raja Mohan,Hernaikh Singh Pdf

Although China has been an important external actor in South Asia since the middle of the last century, it is only in the 21st century that China became a decisive influence on the region's evolution. The emergence of China as the world's second largest economy had naturally made it the largest trading partner for most of the South Asian countries. China's rapid military modernisation, facilitated by its expansive economic growth, had a major impact on the region's security politics. China's political and diplomatic weight is now visible sharply not only in the economic, foreign and security policies of the South Asian nations but also in their domestic politics.Meanwhile, India has emerged, albeit at a slower pace than China, as a major power over the last two decades. Like Beijing, New Delhi's geopolitical aspirations too have steadily risen during that period. This has set the stage for growing strategic friction between the India and China. The friction has enveloped many regional and global domains, but its greatest expression has been in the shared South Asian neighbourhood. India is determined to sustain its traditional primacy in the region and China is determined to consolidate its growing influence in South Asia. The sharpening friction has also begun to intersect with the growing great power tensions, especially between the United States and China. Many elements of these new dynamic have drawn academic engagement, in particular from the major power perspectives. However, the voices of the smaller South Asian nations have not been sufficiently heard or analysed. This volume seeks to address that major gap in the current discourse on the Indian subcontinent and its changing role in great power politics.This volume brings multiple regional voices to assess how the various South Asian nations are dealing with the growing rivalry between India and China. Many of the chapters in this volume were initially published as shorter essays by the Institute of South Asian Studies in its South Asia Discussion Papers series in 2020. Those essays have been updated and expanded in this volume. Additional contributions have also been commissioned to enrich the special perspectives that this volume presents.

Author : Jacob N. Shapiro
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 349 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2015-07-21
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780691166308

Get Book

The Terrorist's Dilemma by Jacob N. Shapiro Pdf

How do terrorist groups control their members? Do the tools groups use to monitor their operatives and enforce discipline create security vulnerabilities that governments can exploit? This title examines the great variation in how terrorist groups are structured.