Counterinsurgency

Exposing the Myths of the New Way of War
Erscheinungsjahr 2014
ISBN: 978-1-107-02738-1
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 448 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 798 g

Counterinsurgency has staked its claim in the new century as the new American way of war. Yet, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have revived a historical debate about the costs – monetary, political and moral – of operations designed to eliminate insurgents and build nations. Today's counterinsurgency proponents point to 'small wars' past to support their view that the enemy is 'biddable' if the correct tactical formulas are applied. Douglas Porch's sweeping history of counterinsurgency campaigns carried out by the three 'providential nations' of France, Britain and the United States, ranging from nineteenth-century colonial conquests to General Petraeus's 'Surge' in Iraq, challenges the contemporary mythologising of counterinsurgency as a humane way of war. The reality, he reveals, is that 'hearts and minds' has never been a recipe for lasting stability and that past counterinsurgency campaigns have succeeded not through state-building but by shattering and dividing societies while unsettling civil-military relations.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Porch, Douglas

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Gewalt Revolutionäre Gruppen und Bewegungen, Bewaffnete Konflikte
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Friedens- und Konfliktforschung
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Gewalt Terrorismus, Religiöser Fundamentalismus
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Gewalt Politische Unterdrückung & Verfolgung
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Militärwesen Nationale und Internationale Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Konflikt- und Friedensforschung, Rüstungskontrolle, Abrüstung

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. A 'happy combination of clemency with firmness'. The small wars prologue; 2. The road from Sedan; 3. The paroxysms of imperial might in the shadow of the Great War; 4. From Tipperary to Tel Aviv: British counterinsurgency in the shadow of World War II; 5. From small wars to La Guerre Subversive. The radicalization and collapse of French counterinsurgency; 6. Vietnam, counterinsurgency, and the American way of war; 7. 'A conspiracy of heroes' – revolution and counterinsurgency in Latin America; 8. Building the 'most successful counterinsurgency school' – COIN as the British way of war; 9. Britain's thirty years' war in Northern Ireland; 10. Vietnam with a happy ending – Iraq and 'The Surge'; 11. Conclusion; Bibliography.

Über Autor(innen)

Porch, Douglas
Douglas Porch is Distinguished Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. A specialist in military history, he advises on security issues all over the world. His most recent book, The Path to Victory: The Mediterranean Theater in World War II, received the Award for Excellence in US Army Historical Writing from The Army Historical Foundation.