Armed conflict Books

Book SynopsisCommemorating 60 years of War Studies at King’s College London, this incisive and adroitly crafted book acts as a comprehensive introduction to the multidisciplinary field of war, conflict and security. Adopting a global approach, it adeptly navigates a broad spectrum of themes and theoretical perspectives which lie at the heart of this important area of study.Bringing together contributions from an array of esteemed scholars, An Introduction to War Studies covers a diverse range of topics, including international relations theories and approaches, conflict, security and development, peace and security, intelligence and international security, the history of war, conflict resolution, strategic communication, and terrorism and society. Providing concise and thematic focus, expert contributors survey the current state of knowledge within the field and explore opportunities for future scholarly inquiry.An authoritative and seminal contribution to the study of war and conflict, this book will be essential for academics, researchers, and students of war, peace and conflict, terrorism and security, and strategic studies as well as international relations and international studies.Trade Review‘This book with its highly pertinent chapters on war and conflict celebrates the anniversary of the foundation of a Department that has become the benchmark for War Studies throughout the world. It is a pleasure to see the seeds planted by Michael Howard that multiplied and blossomed under the green fingers of Lawrence Freedman continuing to bear rich fruit.’ -- Beatrice Heuser, University of Glasgow, UK‘This fantastic book brings together senior scholars of war studies to highlight the important contribution that the field – and the War Studies Department at King’s College London in particular – has made to our understanding of conflict, war and peace over the last six decades. Innovations in the study of war emerging from the King’s War Studies Department, such as the intersection of conflict, security and development, have subsequently been adopted by other universities and development agencies in numerous countries. The volume should be a must read for students and practitioners alike!’ -- Karin von Hippel, Royal United Services Institute, UK‘This book offers a thorough review of the field of war studies and insightful history of the academic department that established this field. It’s an essential resource for anyone interested in the study of armed conflict in all of its dimensions.’ -- Theo Farrell, President, La Trobe University, Australia‘This is a compelling companion from the finest minds, at the finest institution for the study of war in the UK. Covering history, society, technology, politics and the impact of war, this is the perfect accompaniment for those interested in gaining a deep understanding of armed human and state conflicts.’ -- Robert Dover, University of Hull, UKTable of ContentsContents: Foreword xvii Sir Lawrence Freedman Preface and acknowledgements xix 1 War studies at King’s College London 1 James Gow, Lawrence Freedman and Rachel Kerr 2 Conflict resolution in deeply divided societies 15 Stacey Gutkowski, Michael Kerr and Craig Larkin 3 Conflict, security and development 36 Mats Berdal 4 History of war 53 Alan James 5 Intelligence and international security 65 Huw Dylan and David Easter 6 International conflict studies: critical perspectives on conflict and security 78 Vivenne Jabri, Leonie Ansems de Vries, Kiran Phull and Stephan Engelkamp 7 International peace and security 96 James Gow, Natasha Kuhrt and Maria Varaki 8 International relations and war: complexity, interdisciplinarity, analytical plurality 110 Pablo de Orellana 9 International relations today: a long list of theories! 124 Mervyn Frost 10 National security studies 136 John Gearson, Hillary Briffa and Joe Devanny 11 Science and international security 153 Hassan Elbahtimy and Filippa Lentzos 12 Strategic communications: shaping a new century 170 Neville Bolt 13 Terrorism, security and society 183 Shiraz Maher and Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens 14 War studies online 198 David Banks, David Easter and Anne-Lucie Norton 15 War studies 208 Jan Willem Honig

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Book SynopsisAfter the first few months of World War I, the Western Front consisted of a relatively static line of trench systems which stretched from the coast of the North Sea southwards to the Swiss border. To try to break through the opposing lines of trenches and barbed wire entanglements, both sides employed huge artillery bombardments followed by attacks by tens of thousands of soldiers. Battles could last for months and led to casualties measured in hundreds of thousands for attacker and defender alike. After most of these attacks, only a short section of the front would have moved and only by a kilometer or two. After Gallipoli, Australians were moved to fight in France on the western Front, in battles including the Battle of the Somme. On the first day of the 1916 Battle of the Somme, 60,000 Allies were casualties, including 20,000 deaths. The principal adversaries on the Western Front, who fielded armies of millions of men, were Germany to the East against a western alliance to the West consisting of France and the United Kingdom with sizable contingents from the British Empire, especially the Dominions. The United States entered the war in 1917 and by the summer of 1918 had an army of around half a million men which rose to a million by the time the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918. For most of World War I, Allied Forces, predominantly those of France and the British Empire, were stalled at trenches on the Western Front. With the last few men who served in World War I now dying out, and the 90th anniversary of the Armistice coming in November 2008, there is no better time to reevaluate this controversial war and shed fresh light on the conflict. With the aid of numerous black and white and color photographs, many previously unpublished, the World War I series recreates the battles and campaigns that raged across the surface of the globe, on land, at sea and in the air. The text is complemented by full-color maps that guide the reader through specific actions and campaigns.Table of ContentsIntroduction –The Entente Cordiale The Schlieffen Plan The Race to the Sea Digging in The Frustrations of 1915 Verdun The Somme The Debut of the Tank Further Reading Index

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Book Synopsis'Frank and incisive - an insightful look at the most tumultuous period of the Troubles.' Ian Cobain'This is the Belfast I grew up in. Malachi writes from first-hand experience and brings back memories that will always resonate with those who lived in those times.' Eamonn HolmesIn the eleven months between August 1971 and July 1972, Northern Ireland experienced its worst year of violence. No future year of the Troubles experienced such death and destruction. The 'year of chaos' began with the introduction of internment of IRA suspects without trial, which created huge disaffection in the Catholic communities and provoked an escalation of violence. This led to the British government taking full control of Northern Ireland and negotiating directly with the IRA leadership. Operation Motorman, the invasion of barricaded no-go areas in Belfast and Derry, then dampened down the violence a year later. During this whole period, Malachi O'Doherty was a young reporter in Belfast, working in the city and returning home at night to a no-go area behind the barricades where the streets were patrolled by armed IRA men. Drawing on interviews, personal recollections and archival research, O'Doherty takes readers on a journey through the events of that terrible year - from the devastation of Bloody Sunday and Bloody Friday to the talks between leaders that failed to break the deadlock - which, he argues, should serve as a stark reminder of how political and military miscalculation can lead a country to the brink of civil war.Trade ReviewA haunting portrait of a vanished place and time... written with such grace, tenderness, anger and, most of all, sorrow. The Year of Chaos is a gripping and brilliant imaginative reconstruction of that "strange kind of war, if it was a war at all." Every word is suffused with humanity. * Sunday Independent *Frank and incisive - an insightful look at the most tumultuous period of the Troubles. -- Ian Cobain, author of Anatomy of a KillingMalachi O'Doherty recalls this tumultuous period in a confessional and autobiographical tone. Backing up political opinion with lived experience gives an authority that an academic writing on the same subject simply wouldn't possess. O'Doherty's analysis is convincing precisely because he lived through what he is analysing. * Sunday TImes *This is the Belfast I grew up in. Malachi writes from first-hand experience and brings back memories that will always resonate with those who lived in those times. -- Eamonn Holmes, TV presenterO'Doherty is a literary surgeon who uses his pen like a scalpel, cutting through the cancerous tissue of propaganda that has served all sides during "The Troubles". This excellent book is a must-read for all who want to understand what happened during the first years of the conflict. -- Richard O’Rawe, author of BlanketmenEssential reading for anyone trying to make sense of a past frequently distorted by rival sectarian myths and attempts to rewrite history. We need more of this kind of pragmatic history if we are to move forward into a more peaceful future. -- Aaron Edwards, author of Agents of InfluenceThis is an important book which reminds us of the reality and brutality of Belfast in 1971-72. The narrowness between living and dying is laid bare by someone who lived through the "heat of that crazy time", and is a totally authentic account as a result. -- Arlene Foster, former DUP First Minister of Northern IrelandAn impressive, rounded review of a turbulent and formative year, looking at state failures and paramilitary roots with thoughtfulness but not indulgence. -- Claire Hanna MP, SDLPOne year, described by one Belfast writer which lays bare the whole story of Northern Ireland... A vital book for understanding how Northern Ireland has reached deadlock and how it might yet escape, with incredible insights from boy soldiers of the 1970s, on both sides of the religious divide. -- Lesley Riddoch, author of Huts: A Place BeyondA unique insight into the unfolding chaos. Reads like a game of chess. Protestant and Catholic civilians, police and soldier pawns. Politicians, army generals, Republican and Loyalist godfathers prepared to risk lives with dangerous moves. All sides made wrong moves... Sadly the game is still in play. -- George Larmour, author of They Killed the Ice Cream ManA brilliant, utterly moving account of life in the North between 1969 and Internment and after... This is a work which exposes the inconvenient truths of the past, once again in need of recognition and healing. An absorbing, utterly driven political memoir. -- Mary O’Donnell, author of Massacre of the BirdsWithout ego or self-aggrandisement, Malachi O'Doherty captures the thrill and horror of being young in a war zone. A war zone on the doorstep of England. This is essential reading for anyone trying to understand the Troubles. -- Rowena McDonald, author of The Threat Level Remains SevereMalachi O' Doherty brings a unique perspective to the Northern Ireland conflict. Unsentimental, accomplished and authoritative writing is tempered by vivid and compelling lived experience. As Ulster teetered on the edge of civil war, this book travels back to a terrifying tipping point for the province. Opportune and apposite, it should be read as a cautionary tale in these challenging times. -- Paul Burgess, author of Through Hollow LandsIn his final paragraph, O'Doherty suggests that maybe the question is not the more usual one of what tore Northern Ireland apart, but what held it together. His answer, that it never really wanted to be torn apart in the first place, helps us gain some semblance of hope from his thought-provoking account of such a horrifying year. -- Sheila Llewellyn, author of Winter in TabrizThis book reminds us that there are those of us who want to be friends and those that want to drive us apart. It is an invaluable insight not only into the mistakes that we made but also of the true character of the people here that want to live in peace with their neighbours and that they are the foundation on which we must build a future together in Northern Ireland, this island and between these islands. -- Trevor Ringland, former Unionist and Conservative politicianA vivid account of an awful year. There are lessons here for Northern Ireland today. -- Sarah Creighton, commentatorTable of Contents1: Introduction 2: The Boy Soldiers 3: Gearing Up 4: Internment 5: One of Those Things That Happen in War 6: Summitry 7: Shooting Women 8: The Army Gets It Wrong 9: Deepening Deadlock 10: Living in the Middle of It 11: Routines of Murder 12: It's Normal Now 13: A New Year 14: Bloody Sunday 15: Britain Is Now the Problem 16: The Abercorn 17: London Takes Control 18: New Strategies 19: Dublin's Pitch for Unity 20: The Building Backlash 21: Hunger Strikes 22: Negotiations for a Ceasefire 23: Breakdown 24: Bloody Friday 25: Motorman 26: Conclusion: Not Like Other Wars

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Book SynopsisMalachi O'Doherty is a writer and broadcaster based in Belfast. He is a regular contributor to the Belfast Telegraph and to several BBC radio programmes. He covered the Troubles and the peace process as a journalist and has written for a number of Irish and British newspapers and magazines, including the Irish Times, the New Statesman, the Scotsman and the Guardian.

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Book SynopsisThe Research Handbook of Children and Armed Conflict adeptly explores children’s lived realities of armed conflict and its aftermath. Featuring empirical, conceptual and policy analyses, alongside moving first-hand accounts of the experiences of war-affected children and youth, it highlights the urgent need for advocacy and action on this issue.Boasting state of the art contributions by eminent scholars and practitioners from across the globe, this Research Handbook explores the theoretical, practical, and policy issues related to children affected by war. Chapters investigate the profound harms experienced by such children and youth, whether in the heat of conflict, during flight or during resettlement to a new context, underscoring the urgency and high stakes of these situations for children and families affected by war. The Handbook demonstrates that scholarly discussions and debates must ultimately contribute to real-life changes to promote more just and effective immigration legislation, policies, programmes, and practices for war-affected children.Integrating conceptual analyses with concrete policy and political engagement, this incisive Research Handbook will prove essential for scholars, researchers, and students interested in war studies, security, refugee studies, forced migration, international development, child protection and post-conflict reconstruction. Its policy and legally-oriented chapters will also benefit policymakers, civil servants and international NGOs.Trade Review‘This important and timely book addresses the unimaginable toll of war on children and the urgent need for justice, accountability, and most of all: prevention. This Research Handbook is a vital contribution to the work on children affected by armed conflict.’ -- Lieutenant-General (Ret'd) The Honourable Roméo Dallaire, led the UN mission for Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, and is founder of the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security‘This Research Handbook is a must read for everyone interested in the welfare of the more than 500 million children growing up in today’s war zones, and how children’s voices and researcher’s scholarship contribute to more just and effective humanitarian responses and immigration policies.’ -- Neil Boothby, University of Notre Dame, USTable of ContentsContents: “How do we make up for lost time?”: Tackling current questions and realities of children during and following armed conflict 1 Maya Fennig and Myriam Denov PART I VOICES OF YOUNG PEOPLE IMPACTED BY ARMED CONFLICT 1 “Days turned into nights, but we just kept on walking” 20 Arsema Teame 2 “What could have been had I not left my family?” Reflections on war, migration and family separation 29 Bior Leek Ajak PART II APPROACHES TO CHILDREN AFFECTED BY ARMED CONFLICT 3 Prioritizing prevention: the value of a locally led approach in supporting conflict-affected children 38 Michael G. Wessells 4 Participatory action research with youth displaced by war: how youth know, feel and do peace and security 53 Rebecca Sutton 5 Refusing to be victims: child soldiers in the humanitarian world 67 Sylvie Bodineau 6 Stigma and guilt among the children of amnestied ex-combatants in northern Uganda: implications for transitional justice 86 Grace Akello PART III WAR, DISPLACEMENT, AND MIGRATION 7 ‘They have locked us in’: the impact of liminality and protracted displacement on the mental health of Eritrean refugee youth living in Israel 103 Maya Fennig and Myriam Denov 8 Children and parents separated at the U.S. border: a case of human rights violations in the Global North 123 Lyn Morland and Elaine Kelley 9 Agency, resilience and vulnerability of children in contexts of conflict-induced displacement 147 Cordula von Denkowski and Ulrike Krause 10 Navigating displacement: trajecto-making among forced migrant and refugee children and youth 168 Giorgia Donà and Angela Veale PART IV CRITICAL DISCUSSIONS OF POLICY/PRACTICE 11 Child detention in armed conflict 184 Frédéric Mégret and Isabella Spano 12 The child soldier under international law and policy 200 Mark A. Drumbl 13 Preventing the recruitment and use of children as soldiers: a perspective on moral injury and the security sector 215 Shelly Whitman 14 Children without parental care in armed conflict settings: right to family life and alternative care arrangements 232 Mónica Ruiz-Casares 15 Mental health and psychosocial support interventions for conflict-affected children and adolescents: strategies, challenges, and recommendations 253 Shoshanna L. Fine and Jura L. Augustinavicius Index 280

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Book SynopsisThe book is the first to discuss in detail the extensive external involvement in the Liberian civil war, a war that claimed up to 200,000 lives, created a massive refuge crisis and brought West Africa to the tribunal of international attention. The book is conceived against the background that the international response to the conflict has features that are unprecedented in the management of civil conflicts in the post-cold war era. For example, the regional peacekeeping mission was the first after the end of the cold war, while the dispatch of UN Observer mission was the first ever joint peacekeeping mission between the UN and a regional organisation. The extensive involvement of international organisations in the conflict has not been witnessed in the region since the Biafran war of 1967-1970.Trade Review’...a fascinating study which illuminates our understanding of the failed state and the role of external actors in coping with its implications. The author’s pioneering study is a model of scholarly endeavour providing a host of valuable insights, based on extensive fieldwork in difficult circumstances.’ Professor J.E. Spence, Royal Institute of International Affairs, UK ’...this new study helps to fill gap in our understanding of the international involvement in the Liberian conflict, the forces that shaped it and the degree of success in the outcome. The author argues that the extensive international response (mainly West African ECOMG forces) offers important lessons for the management of complex emergencies in Africa.’ African Book Centre ’...this unprecedented case...is therefore particularly welcome and represents the first attempt to assess the international involvement in the entire civil war. he deals competently and painstakingly with the tortuous peacemaking process...’ International AffairsTable of ContentsContents: State failure, international intervention and the collapse of the Liberian state; The politics and economics of the Liberian civil war; Regional involvement in the Liberian conflict: ECOWAS and ECOMOG in Liberia; The United Nations and the Liberian conflict; Allies as rivals: ECOMOG and UNOMIL in Liberia; Non-governmental organizations and the Liberian emergency; Whither the Godfather? the United States and the Liberian civil war; The international community and post-conflict Liberia.

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Book SynopsisMoshe Amirav, world expert on the conflict in Jerusalem, presents previously unrevealed facts and creative solutions for resolving the conflict. As a participant in political negotiations and national decision making, his book addresses disturbing questions: "How is it that after 40 years of Israeli efforts to unify Jerusalem it is still one of the most divided cities in the world?"; "Why is it that no country, including the US, has recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel?"; "Why has Israel failed in its efforts to curb the rapid growth of Jerusalem's Palestinian population, an increase that will lead to a Palestinian majority in Jerusalem in the next decade?" Israel's policies have failed to 'unite' Jerusalem. Israeli and Palestinian strategies to gain control over East Jerusalem are analysed, but neither side has proved victorious, and the battle rages on locally and internationally, with serious implications for stability in the Middle East. Amirav reveals the deep historical divisions within the Arab-Muslim camp over guardianship of Muslim holy places, and provides a gripping account of the Camp David negotiations in 2000 which failed in part due to disagreement about sovereignty over Jerusalem's Holy Places. When interviewed at the time of the book's publication in Hebrew, Amirav stated: "We have to divide Jerusalem. We have to get rid of some of our syndromes, some of our dreams". Newsweek magazine (The Holy City Loses Faith, 4 June 2007).Trade Review"The book touches the heart of the conflict as well as our own hearts." -- Tzippi Livni, Israel's Foreign Minister"Amirav is a pioneer who crossed ideological lines for peace. Through the years he has contributed important insights leading to solutions for Jerusalem." -- Ziad Abu Ziad, former Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, Palestinian AuthorityTable of ContentsPreface; Jerusalem Syndrome - Dreams & Failures; How Jerusalem Became Israel's Capita; The Struggle for East Jerusalem; Why Israel is Losing the Jewish Majority in its Capital; The Most Polarised City in the World; The Failed Attempts to Bring Peace; The Struggle Over the Holy Places; Epilogue -- From City of the Dead to City of Peace.

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Book SynopsisThis book critically analyses the topic of US-led external interventions in the affairs of developing countries by using one of the most contested experiments of modern times, namely, the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath. The March 2003 invasion of Iraq has so far failed to deliver the benefits and outcomes its supporters anticipated, prompting international discussion as to whether the promises of externally-led nation-building (as an attempt to mould rogue states in a democratic, market-friendly fashion) are outweighed by the kinds of pitfalls and perils of intervention that have come to characterise the Iraq experience. This book identifies and addresses the major issues emerging from the current debate including the evolution of external interventionism as an idea, an explanation of what went wrong in post-Saddam Iraq and why the Iraq experiment is flawed by the Bush administration's refusal to address long standing political and historical grievances among Muslims as part of the 'War on Terror'. The contributors assess the troubled relationship between Islam and the West, the prospects for democracy in the Middle East, foreign policy debates in the US, and how economics and politics are juxtaposed in a highly contentious manner in any project of externally-driven nation-building.Beyond the Iraq War brings together scholars and practitioners in an attempt to move beyond the polemical dimensions of the existing debate and provide a balanced analysis of what the Iraq enterprise can tell us about the brand of external interventionism espoused by the Bush administration and also the lessons it holds for any future interventions into the affairs of states. It combines a mix of disciplines, most notably international relations and economics as well as theory and empirical evidence. The book is written in a non-technical, but rigorous, manner in order to make complex and diverse issues accessible to the general reader.This fascinating and scholarly work will appeal to academics and scholars in the fields of political economics, political science and international relations. Policymakers, journalists and media commentators will also find this work to be of great interest and value.Trade Review'The main lesson from the Iraq experience so far has been the enormous costs of military intervention. The effects of a doctrine of interventionism on both the target country and the international political environment in general are profound and far-reaching. As a test case, Iraq has demonstrated a clear need for both the costs and benefits and the circumstances under which intervention should occur to be much better defined and understood. Careful evaluation of the thinking and goals behind the Iraq intervention, the difficulties it faces, and its status as a "test case" for dealing with conventional and non-conventional threats alike is required. This volume on the promises and perils of interventionism, therefore, is both timely and significant.' -- From the foreword by Kevin Rudd, MP, Australian Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and International SecurityTable of ContentsContents: Foreword Kevin Rudd, MP 1. Editors’ Introduction: New Interventionism but Same Old Promises and Perils? Michael Heazle and Iyanatul Islam PART I: POLITICAL ORIGINS AND FUTURE OF NEOLIBERAL INTERVENTIONISM 2. The New Interventionism and the Invasion of Iraq Michael Wesley 3. Competing US Perspectives on Iraq Ira Chernus PART II: NEOLIBERAL INTERVENTIONISM IN PRACTICE: DEMOCRACY AND THE IRAQ EXPERIMENT 4. Democratisation Dilemmas: Iraq, the United States and Political Reform in the Middle East Anthony Bubalo 5. Cooperation and Resistance under Occupation: A Complex Web Peter Khalil 6. Post Election Iraq: A Case for Declining Optimism John Hartley PART III: THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: WESTERN–ARAB/MUSLIM RELATIONS AND PERCEPTIONS 7. Islam and the West: Where to from Here? Amin Saikal 8. Covering (Up) Islam Part III: Terrorism and the US Intervention in Iraq Michael Heazle PART IV: THE ECONOMICS OF NEOLIBERAL INTERVENTION: ALL DOLLARS AND NO SENSE? 9. Iraq’s Sovereign Debt and its Curious Global Implications Ross P. Buckley 10. Neoliberalism and Post-Saddam Iraq: A Global Perspective Iyanatul Islam Index

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Book SynopsisThe size and intensity of the Israeli army's operations since 2000 as well as the unprecedented scale of settlement construction brought about a qualitative change in the relationship between Palestinians and Israelis, altering it, Klein argues, from a border conflict to an ethnic struggle, pure and simple. Jewish Israel has now established its ethno-security regime over the whole area, from Jordan to the Mediterranean, a process that was accelerated and facilitated by election results in Israel, the United States and the Palestinian Authority. Arguing against the prevailing wisdom, which describes Israel's control system as merely one of 'occupation', in The Shift Klein contends that it is based now on twin ethnic and security pillars and seeks to include Israeli citizens of Palestinian origin. The core of his book examines the current ruling structure of the shrinking Jewish majority over the almost majority Palestinians and its different levels: Israeli Palestinian citizens, the residents of Jerusalem, the two West Bank groups divided by the Separation Barrier and those living under siege in the Gaza Strip. The Shift is based on primary sources and data that usually are published separately. Klein weaves them into his ground-breaking book, offering the reader a comprehensive portrayal of the on-the-ground realities and providing a new framework for understanding the status of the durable Israeli-Palestinian conflict, its history, and its likely future course.Trade Review'The strongest part of the book is the material and analysis on the settlers and how they are stitched into the military and bureaucratic structures on both sides of the 1967 border. We get a sense of the ideological forces from below that drive radical settlers, but also a sense of the powerful political and military structures that enable them to continue to expand.' * John Chalcraft, LSE *'A brilliant and compelling account of the hard ground truths that now shape the Israeli-Palestinian struggle and seem to preclude a happy outcome. ... if you still believe in the possibility of Israeli-Palestinian peace, and especially if you don't, this book is for you.' * Aaron David Miller, author of The Much Too Promised Land: America's Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace *'This dense little book, a fact-filled account of Israel and the Palestinians since the June 1967 war, treats not peace-process politics but actual developments on the ground. - Klein likens Israeli control of the Palestinians to colonialism, with striking comparisons to Algeria under French rule. He hits another hot button in arguing cogently that the system amounts to apartheid, but a softer apartheid than prevailed in South Africa.' * Foreign Affairs *

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Book SynopsisThe laws of war have always been concerned with issues of necessity and proportionality, but how are these principles applied in modern warfare? What are the pressures on practitioners where an increasing emphasis on legality is the norm? Where do such boundaries lie in the contexts, means and methods of contemporary war? What is wrong, or right, in the view of military-political practitioners, in how those concepts relate to today's means and methods of war? These are among the issues addressed by James Gow in his compelling analysis of war and war crimes, which draws upon research conducted over many years with defence professionals from all over the world. Today more than ever, military strategy has to embrace justice and law, with both being deemed essential prerequisites for achieving success on the battlefield. And in a context where legitimacy defines success in warfare, but is a fragile and contested concept, no group has a greater interest in responding to these pressures and changes positively than the military. It is they who have the greatest need and desire to foster legitimacy in war by getting the politics-law-strategy nexus right, as well as developing a clear understanding of the relationship between war and war crimes, and calibrating where war becomes a war crime.Trade Review'This book should be read by all, political and military, who seek to use armed force to achieve their ends. With great clarity James Gow shows the relation of law to war and how this relationship has changed along with the way war is practised. As importantly, he shows what could happen to those practioners who fail to foster this relationship: failure and possibly prosecution.' * General Sir Rupert Smith KCB DSO OBE QGM *'A clever and fundamental book. Law and legitimacy have always been important to war, but Gow's book brilliantly demonstrates how central the issue not simply of right, but of wrong have become to modern war.' * Professor Jan Willem Honig, Swedish National Defence College *'War and War Crimes traces the evolution of international humanitarian law and the laws of war, and discusses the practical problems arising for military practitioners. It should be compulsory reading for any student of conflict - whether in IR, law, or sociology - but also for any responsible military officer and, as importantly, for the politicians taking the decisions.' * Beatrice Heuser, Professor and Chair of International Relations, Reading University, and author of The Evolution of Strategy: Thinking War from Antiquity to the Present *'At the heart of this authoritative examination of the legitimacy of war and its conduct in the twenty-first century, James Gow refreshingly gives voice to the military judgment of professionals from around the world, as military officers themselves best understand the moral dilemmas they face and can best explain the context, at the strategic and tactical levels, which is so crucial to determining whether war crimes have been committed.' * Jeremy Jarvis CBE, Course Director, Royal College of Defence Studies, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom *

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Book SynopsisIn a world dominated by nation-states, expressions of private violence have generally been neglected: either as relics of a more disorganised world or as marginal nuisances to states themselves. The prevalence and centrality of private violence in the past and present warns against such complacency. An increasing academic interest in 'non-state' or private violence in International Relations has been mirrored in the world of policy as terrorists, insurgents, private military companies, and more recently pirates, have all become the focus of international security. Despite the increasing interest, the historical analysis of such actors has not been at a premium. This volume seeks to rectify this gap. Setting private violence in an historical context the contributors consider the development of private violence in time, as well as offering a comparative analysis of its unfolding across different geographical planes. The nine chapters that form the volume critically explore the lives of pirates, privateers, mercenaries, warlords, bandits and smugglers - groups of men (and occasionally women) that have sustained themselves and their kin principally through recourse to violence, but generally from outside or on the margins of public, state authority. They underline ways in which private violence acts both as a threat to existing forms of social order, and as a vehicle of empowerment for the established political authorities.

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Book SynopsisReaders of this book are presented with a novelty, namely the Afghan perspective on the successive military and counterinsurgency campaigns that the British, Russians and Americans/Coalition have fought against the Afghans, from the first encounter in the 1830s to today's ongoing war waged by the Taliban. Included in the narrative is the wider Pashtun population that lived astride the British Imperial/Pakistan border, not just those Pashtuns resident in the modern state of Afghanistan. The literature on the Afghan wars and frontier actions is almost entirely Anglo-centric and 'agency' on the part of Afghans/Pashtuns is almost entirely absent. Even modern accounts by journalists, former soldiers, policy-makers and commentators have tended to reduce the Afghans and Pashtuns to stereotypes and deprive them of any initiative. Ironically their nineteenth-century contemporaries were rather more generous in their appraisal of their fighting prowess. Rob Johnson therefore presents more than just another military history of the Afghan Wars; he seeks to open a new chapter in the debate about Afghanistan and, crucially, aims to 'tell the story' from the Afghan side, countering the inaccurate and sometimes rather fanciful interpretations of events, in order to present a more precise and utilitarian account of the military history of the Afghans. Successive chapters illustrate the various methods adopted by the Afghans to confront their enemies, focussing on a limited number of themes to create coherence. Collectively, they demonstrate that the 'Afghan Way of War' was eminently pragmatic, but that the spirit by which Afghans fought the British, or the Soviets, or each other, was coloured by a cultural code. In recent decades, that code has been altered and eroded dramatically so that in the last ten years what has been paramount is the Afghans' sense that they are resisting coercive governance, foreign influences and ideas and occupation.Trade ReviewRequired reading for the leaders of both the U.S. and U.K., as well as the grunts on Afghan soil. -- TIMEFor many observers Afghanistan, its people, and their conflicts remain mysterious, explicable primarily through vaguely Orientalist constructs of 'culture' or 'tribe'. Johnson helps explain 'the Afghan way of war' as Afghans themselves understand it. As such, this impressive work is an important contribution to the study of Afghanistan. -- David Kilcullen, author of Counterinsurgency and The Accidental GuerrillaThe Afghan Way of War is a superb book. It offers an unprecedented historical account of the evolving nature of warfare in Afghanistan over the past two hundred years, and overturns long-held assumptions about the Afghans as fighters. Its careful historical analysis makes it essential reading for anyone interested in understanding Afghanistan -- and, perhaps more importantly, Afghans themselves. -- Seth G. Jones, author of In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in AfghanistanThe most comprehensive attempt yet to try to explain why in Afghanistan 'killing was a way of life' -- the words of an SAS officer quoted here. Rob Johnson's cool, clear, forensic examination underlines how, in Afghanistan, he who controls the past controls the future. -- David Loyn, BBC foreign correspondent and author of Butcher and Bolt: 200 Years of Foreign Engagement in AfghanistanThere are many recent accounts of Afghanistan's wars, but none that pays as close attention to how the Afghans, as well as foreigners, planned and carried out their military campaigns there. This well written book provides fresh insights on both old and new conflicts that deserves a wide readership. -- Tom Barfield, author of Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political HistoryFor those who are interested in appraising how Afghanistan's remote as well as immediate past may shape its complex and clouded present, Robert Johnson's The Afghan Way of War offers an exciting starting point. -- William Maley, Director, Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy and author of Rescuing AfghanistanA scholarly yet highly accessible book (an exceptional phenomenon in its own right) that takes the reader, in Johnson's own words, beyond 'the narrow and colonial impression' of previous writing about the Afghans and the region. ... Johnson is certainly well qualified to construct a clear analysis of the political and ethnic complexities of the current Afghan conflict. ... The Afghan Way of War is likely to long remain an invaluable reference work for understanding conflict in Afghanistan. -- Jules Stewart, Military History MonthlyJohnson makes a forensic study of a wide range of sources, analysing not only British engagement in Afghanistan, but also the perennial conflict on the North Western Frontier, the Russian occupation of the 1980s, and also civil wars between Afghan factions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His careful work is a challenge to lazy thinking ... subtle, well-researched and convincing. -- Asian AffairsAfghanistan has a long and storied military history. For many Westerners, however, that history is known more through myth and apocrypha than serious historiography. Rob johnson does an important service by overturning many such myths in a rich overview of nearly 200 years of Afghan warfare. -- Stephen Biddle, Roger Hertog Senior Fellow for Defense Policy, Council on Foreign Relations

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Book SynopsisBetween 1983 and 2009 Sri Lanka was host to a bitter civil war fought between the Government and the Tamil Tigers, which sought the creation of an independent Tamil state. In May 2009 came the war's violent end with the crushing defeat of the Tamil Tigers at the hands of the Sri Lanka Army. But prior to this grim finale, for some time there had been hope for a peaceful end to the conflict. Beginning with a ceasefire agreement in early 2002, for almost five years a series of peace talks between the two sides took place in locations ranging from Thai- land and Japan to Norway, Germany and Switzerland.To End a Civil War tells the story of trying to bring peace to Sri Lanka. In particular it tells the story of how a faraway European nation--Norway--came to play a central role in efforts to end the conflict, and what its small, dedicated team of mediators did in their untiring efforts to reach what ultimately proved the elusive goal of a negotiated peace.In doing so it fills a critical gap in our understanding of the Sri Lankan conflict. But it also illuminates in detail a much wider problem: the intense fragility that surrounds peace processes and the extraordinary lengths to which their proponents often stretch in order to secure their progress.Trade Review‘'To End a Civil War' is a very detailed account of Norway’s efforts to resolve the conflict in Sri Lanka drawn from more than fifty interviews of people involved in the peace effort … The book contains an impressive amount of research and access to many principals, which is useful to diplomats and scholars interested in peacebuilding broadly and Sri Lankan history specifically.’ -- Terrorism and Political Violence'Such a book, an intimate and forthright account of Norway's thankless engagement in Sri Lanka for peace and national reconciliation, is long overdue. ... The sobering lesson we should all learn from these intractable experiences is that the final outcome of these efforts depends ultimately on political circumstances which are beyond the control of peace-makers.' * Yasushi Akashi, United Nations Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator *'Proximity can bruise relationships, especially when it is as close as India's to Sri Lanka. Distances can shake hands with greater facility. So when 'distant Norway' suggested to embattled Sri Lanka it had expertise to share in making and keeping peace, India was sceptical but encouraging. Norway's bid in Sri Lanka to retrieve life from death did not triumph, but were its efforts in vain? Some soils hold their germinal stirrings for delayed ripening. And Norway may yet find its engagement in Sri Lanka comes to fruition.' * Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former Governor of West Bengal and High Commissioner to Sri Lanka *'Peace finally came to Sri Lanka. But not without heroic efforts on the part of the Norwegian government. Its determination to support the aspirations of all Sri Lankans in the face of withering criticism deserves our respect and is a story worth telling.' * Richard L. Armitage, United States Deputy Secretary of State, 2001-2005 *'An important read for all of us seeking to learn more about peaceful, negotiated means to solve conflicts. This book gives us lessons learned, always useful in our ongoing quest to find new ways to prevent and stop violence. Brave stories from two countries with a special place in my heart: Norway and Sri Lanka.' * Margot Wallstom, Swedish Foreign Minister *

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Book SynopsisParamilitary or irregular units have been involved in practically every case of identity-based mass violence in the modern world, but detailed analysis of these dynamics is rare. Through exploring the case of former Yugoslavia, Kate Ferguson exposes the relationships between paramilitaries, state commands, local communities, and organised crime present in modern mass atrocities, from Rwanda and Darfur to Syria and Myanmar. Visible paramilitary participation in modern mass atrocities has succeeded in masking the continued dominance of the state in a number of violent crises. Irregular combatants have participated so significantly in committing atrocity crimes because political elites benefit from using unconventional forces to fulfil ambitions that violate international law--and international policy responses are hindered when responsibility for violence is ambiguous. Ferguson's inquiry into these overlooked dynamics of mass violence unveils substantial loopholes in current atrocity prevention architecture. Until these are addressed, state authorities will likely continue to use irregular combatants as perpetrators of atrocity.Trade Review'Architectures of Violence is an important book for anyone committed to the prevention of mass atrocities. Kate Ferguson challenges pervasive assumptions about where these crimes come from and sets us on the road to more effective prevention strategies.' -- Adama Dieng, UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide and former registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda'This book provides a new understanding of the role of non-state military actors in identity-based conflicts. It is rich in detail and will contribute much to our understanding of the nature of non-state armed groups--rigorous and insightful.' -- Rachel Kerr, Reader in International Relations and Contemporary War, King's College London'Architectures of Violence is a well-written, comprehensive study of paramilitarism during the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Ferguson strikes a good balance between empirical depth and conceptual breadth--her conclusions are relevant beyond the specific dynamics of that conflict.' -- Ugur Ungor, Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, University of Amsterdam

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Book Synopsis**SHORTLISTED FOR THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE DUKE OF WESTMINSTER MEDAL FOR MILITARY LITERATURE** **SHORTLISTED FOR BRITISH ARMY BOOK OF THE YEAR** In the wars in Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan and in recent conflicts more generally, liberal powers have blurred the line between military and political activity. Operationally, such blurring is highly effective: it works on the ground. Conversely, in strategic terms, it erases the distinction between war and peace. This, Simpson contends, is undesirable: how can policy control armed force, if armed force is a direct extension of policy? As the information revolution reinforces the politicisation of combat, this is likely to be an irreversible trend. The question this book seeks to answer is not whether the West should engage in such practices, but how to manage, gain advantage from, and mitigate the associated risks. Liberal powers need to win conflicts on the ground, and yet preserve a healthy distinction between war and peace. Failure to preserve that distinction will result in those powers being caught in endless conflicts for which they are operationally ill-equipped. War From The Ground Up offers a distinctive perspective in its consideration of the concept of contemporary warfare. While most accounts of conflict survey the battlefield from an academic perspective, or across it as a personal combat narrative, Simpson looks up from the front line to consider the concepts that put him there, and how they played out.Trade Review'Deserves to be seen as a coda to Clausewitz’s On War.’'--Michael Howard, Times Literary Supplement ; 'Should be read by all aspiring military commanders and their Whitehall masters.'-- The Guardian; 'Ministers would do well to read Simpson's fascinating and provocative study before they launch their next lunge into the unknown. They might then better understand how elusive in modern conflict are the concepts of winning and losing.'--Max Hastings, The Sunday Times; 'I am constantly bowled over by Emile Simpson’s insights. He produces lines that exude common sense and which, because they are pithy, deserve to be widely quoted – and will be. Put simply, this is the most intelligent book on war that I have read for a very long time.'-- Hew Strachan, Oxford ; 'Erudite and intelligent contribution to the literature on counterinsurgency.' -- Lawrence D. Freedman, Foreign Affairs; 'Best book of the year by a considerable margin. … Its paradigm-shifting arguments have implications that extend far beyond the battlefield.' -- Niall Ferguson, Bloomberg News Book of the Year; 'Emile Simpson engages with a key problem in our understanding of conflict -- the binary fallacy that sees war as essentially two-sided and as a precursor to political outcomes, rather than as a multi-player political ecosystem with its own logic.' -- David Kilcullen, author of The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One; 'Filled with provocative and innovative observations about the blurring of military and political realms in kaleidoscopic environments, this book is the most perceptive account of contemporary conflict I have seen. It deserves to be widely read by military practitioners and their political leaders.' -- Conrad Crane, lead author of FM 3-24, Counterinsurgency and Director of the US Army Military History Institute; 'Emile Simpson combines academic rigour with practical perspective to explore the understanding and conceptualisation of modern war. … An essential read for those interested in understanding both the conflict in Afghanistan and the contested and often confused nature of modern war.' -- James Denselow, International Affairs; 'An interesting and important meditation on the nature of the unsatisfying wars of the modern era by a man who has seen more of them than most. It should be read by everyone interested in the current war in Afghanistan and in the likely nature of conflict for many years to come; these wars are not going away, and Simpson has done yeoman's work in helping us understand them.' -- John Nagl, Minerva Professor of Culture and War, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis; 'How to do – and how not to do – counter-insurgency, by an expert and exceptionally thoughtful practitioner. Hard analysis, and happy-talk free. Essential reading for anyone seriously interested in what makes success in counter-insurgency so elusive.' -- Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, author of Cables from Kabul: The Inside Story of the West's Afghanistan Campaign; 'A bold exploration of strategic thought, well grounded in experience. It is what one would expect of a Gurkha officer, following in the footsteps of Bill Slim, the thinking man's general.' -- Carter Malkasian, Afghanistan veteran with the US State Department and author of War Comes to Garmser: Thirty Years of Conflict on the Afghan Frontier University

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Book SynopsisThis study contributes to the debate on whether defense spending encourages or hinders economic growth. The effect of politics on economic growth in developing societies is assessed, with a focus on the Middle East. The study is the first to add conflict variables to the production function defense-growth model and test them empirically across countries and regions, and provide robust empirical evidence on the differential effects of interstate and intrastate conflicts on economic growth. The study provides compelling empirical evidence and guidelines to policy decision makers on how to allocate the resources of their states and adopt policies that promote political economic development. The study urges Third World leaders to improve levels of freedom, democracy, and openness of their political systems because the results confirm that political factors are at least as important as economic factors in promoting economic growth. Furthermore, the results attest that the reallocation of resources from military to the civilian sector is the sine qua non to improve the performance of developing countries' economies.Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction. Chapter 2 The political economy of the Middle East. Chapter 3 Arab Israeli conflict. Chapter 4 Arms in the middle east. Chapter 5 Theories and models. Chapter 6 The model. Chapter 7 Data and estimation and results. Chapter 8 Conclusion. References. List of Tables. List of Figures. Appendix A. Appendix B. Appendix C. Contributions to Conflict Management, Peace Economics and Development. Arms and Conflict in the Middle East. Copyright page. Subject Index. Foreword.

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Book SynopsisFour sections present a thorough overview of current issues in the politics of conflict in historical perspective. Essay chapters written by a variety of academic and other experts on topics including conflicts in Latin America, Africa, the Caucasus and Central Asia, South Asia and South-East Asia, the Arab-Israeli Conflict and Yugoslavia provide background analysis and information on some of the key aspects of conflicts in the world. It also includes an A – Z glossary of conflicts in the world, Maps of countries and regions and a select bibliography. Table of Contents1. Introduction: A World in Conflict Vassilis K. Fouskas 2. Articulating Evil Andrew Wheatcroft3. Modern Conflicts in Latin America Jairo Lugo 4. Africa, a Continent of Conflicts Phia Steyn 5. Ethnic Conflicts in the Caucasus and Central Asia Emmanuel Karagiannis 6. South Asia: Kashmir and Sri-Lanka Rajat Ganguly 7. South-East Asia: Decolonization, Modernization, Nationalism and State-Building Yoke-Lian Lee and Roger Buckley 8. The Arab-Israeli Conflict Rory Miller 9. The Northern Ireland Conflict John Doyle 10. Yugoslavia: The Failure of a Success Stevan K. Pavlowitch 11. Placing Serbia in Context Peter Gowan 12. Iraq and meta-conflict Vassilis K. Fouskas A to Z Glossary; Bibliography; Maps.

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Book SynopsisThe Armed Conflict Survey provides in-depth analysis of the political, military and humanitarian dimensions of all major armed conflicts, as well as data on fatalities, refugees and internally displaced persons. Compiled by the IISS, publisher of The Military Balance, it is the standard reference work on contemporary conflict. The book assesses key developments in 36 conflicts, including those in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Israel–Palestine, Southern Thailand, Colombia and Ukraine.The Armed Conflict Survey also features chapters on UN peacekeeping; sexual violence; the Islamic State’s shifting narrative; governance by armed groups and rebel-to-party transitions.Table of ContentsEditor’s Introduction Chapter One - Thematic Essays Whither UN Peacekeeping? Conflict-related Sexual Violence The Islamic State’s Shifting Narrative The Changing Foundations of Governance by Armed Groups Rebel-to-party Transitions Chapter Two - Maps, Graphics and Data Territory lost by ISIS and operations against the group in Ten years of Mexico’s ‘war on drugs’Distribution of highest reported level of rape during civil warRefugee movements to selected non-Western countriesGlobal conflict fatalities Myanmar’s newest insurgencyChapter Three - Middle East Egypt Iraq Israel–Palestine Lebanon–Hizbullah–Syria Libya Mali (The Sahel) Syria Turkey (PKK) Yemen Chapter Four - Sub-Saharan Africa Central African Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo Ethiopia Nigeria (Boko Haram) Nigeria (Delta Region) Somalia South Sudan Sudan (Blue Nile, Darfur and South Kordofan) Chapter Five - South Asia Afghanistan India (Assam) India (CPI–Maoist) India (Manipur) India (Nagaland) India–Pakistan (Kashmir) Pakistan Chapter Six - Asia-Pacific China (Xinjiang) Myanmar Philippines (ASG) Philippines (MILF) Philippines (NPA) Southern Thailand Chapter Seven - Europe and Eurasia Armenia–Azerbaijan (Nagorno-Karabakh) Russia (North Caucasus) Ukraine Chapter Eight - Latin America Central America (Northern Triangle) Colombia Mexico Chapter Nine - Explanatory Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThe Armed Conflict Survey provides in-depth analysis of the political, military and humanitarian dimensions of all major armed conflicts, as well as data on fatalities, refugees and internally displaced persons. Compiled by the IISS, publisher of The Military Balance, it is the standard reference work on contemporary conflict.The book assesses key developments in 36 high-, medium- and low-intensity conflicts, including those in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Israel–Palestine, Southern Thailand, Colombia and Ukraine.The Armed Conflict Survey features essays by some of the world’s leading experts on armed conflict, including Mats Berdal, Elisabeth Jean Wood, Julia Bleckner, Nelly Lahoud, William Reno and Carrie Manning. They write on:• UN peacekeeping;• conflict-related sexual violence;• the Islamic State’s shifting narrative;• the changing foundations of governance by armed groups; and• rebel-to-party transitions.The authors’ discussion of principal thematic and cross-national trends complements the detailed analysis of each conflict at the core of the book.The Armed Conflict Survey also includes maps, infographics and multi-year data, as well as the IISS Chart of Conflict.Table of ContentsEditor’s Introduction Chapter One - Thematic Essays Whither UN Peacekeeping? Conflict-related Sexual Violence The Islamic State’s Shifting Narrative The Changing Foundations of Governance by Armed Groups Rebel-to-party Transitions Chapter Two - Maps, Graphics and Data Territory lost by ISIS and operations against the group in Ten years of Mexico’s ‘war on drugs’Distribution of highest reported level of rape during civil warRefugee movements to selected non-Western countriesGlobal conflict fatalities Myanmar’s newest insurgencyChapter Three - Middle East Egypt Iraq Israel–Palestine Lebanon–Hizbullah–Syria Libya Mali (The Sahel) Syria Turkey (PKK) Yemen Chapter Four - Sub-Saharan Africa Central African Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo Ethiopia Nigeria (Boko Haram) Nigeria (Delta Region) Somalia South Sudan Sudan (Blue Nile, Darfur and South Kordofan) Chapter Five - South Asia Afghanistan India (Assam) India (CPI–Maoist) India (Manipur) India (Nagaland) India–Pakistan (Kashmir) Pakistan Chapter Six - Asia-Pacific China (Xinjiang) Myanmar Philippines (ASG) Philippines (MILF) Philippines (NPA) Southern Thailand Chapter Seven - Europe and Eurasia Armenia–Azerbaijan (Nagorno-Karabakh) Russia (North Caucasus) Ukraine Chapter Eight - Latin America Central America (Northern Triangle) Colombia Mexico Chapter Nine - Explanatory Notes Index

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Book Synopsis'Deftly told' The HeraldThey were modern men, the soldiers of the '45: doctors and lawyers, students and teachers, gardeners and weavers. These are the men often written out of history, or else depicted as gallant but misguided fools. But in reality they were children of the Age of Reason, they wrote poetry, discussed the latest ideas in philosophy and science - and rose in armed rebellion against the might of the British crown and government. Many faced agonising personal dilemmas before committing themselves to Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite Cause. Few had any illusions about the consequences of failure. Many met their date with destiny on Culloden Moor, players in a global conflict that shaped the world we live in today. Combining meticulous research with entertaining and stylish delivery, Maggie Craig tells the dramatic and moving stories of the men who were willing to risk everything for their vision of a better future for themselves, their families and Scotland. 'A superbly structured work, written with passion and conviction' Scots Magazine

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Book SynopsisIn the Gaza Strip, growing up on land owned by his family for centuries, eleven-year-old Yousef is preoccupied by video games, school pranks, and meeting his father's impossibly high standards. Everything changes when the Second Intifada erupts and soldiers occupy the family home. Yousef's father refuses to flee and risk losing the house forever, so the army keeps the family in a state of virtual imprisonment. Yousef struggles to understand how his father can be so committed to peaceful co-existence that he welcomes the occupying Israeli soldiers as `guests', even in the face of unfair and humiliating treatment. Over time, Yousef learns how to endure his new life in captivity - but he can't anticipate that a bullet is about to transform his future in an instant. Shot by an Israeli soldier at the age of fifteen, and taken to hospital in Tel Aviv, Yousef slowly and painstakingly confronts the paralysis of his lower body. Under the ceaseless care of Israeli medical professionals, he gains a new perspective on the value of co-existence. These transformative experiences set Yousef on a difficult new path that leads him to learn to embody his father's philosophy, and spread a message of co-existence in a world of deep-set sectarianism. The Words of My Father is a moving coming-of-age story about survival, tolerance and hope.Trade Review"To experience love and humanity on many levels, read this story. Beautifully told by a young man whose voice deserves to be heard - even if the world is not yet ready to listen." - Diana Darke, author of The Merchant of Syria "Yousef Khalil Bashir has written a work of profound spiritual beauty, one of the great memoirs to emerge from this terrible conflict. For Israelis like myself, reading Bashir's story is a deeply wrenching experience. And yet, while I strongly disagree with some of his premises, I found myself feeling grateful to Bashir for his open heart and mind. "The Words of My Father" offers all of us hope that this seemingly intractable conflict can find a solution that is just to both sides."-Yossi Klein Halevi, author of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor

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Book SynopsisScholars agree that a direct correlation can be made between poor governance and the emergence of extremist movements. This book challenges both the efficacy and wisdom of purely militarized responses to extremist movements typified by the Global War on Terror, as well as the cursory replication of international counter-terrorism frameworks promulgated by the UN and EU in Africa. Emphasis is given to the importance of understanding local history, culture and regional geopolitics, among a variety of context-specific factors, to effectively address the emergence and spread of extremisms in Africa. As such, it draws on contributions from a range of thematic and regional experts, including security-sector specialists, conflict analysts, journalists, international relations and governance specialists, political scientists, social anthropologists, psychologists, and theologians.Table of ContentsForeword: Dr Alain Tschudin, GGA Executive Director; Chapter 1: Between rhetoric and reality: Strategic approaches to counter-terrorism – Peter Knoope; Chapter 2: Public opinion on security and terrorism in Africa – Rorisang Lekalake; Chapter 3: Terrorism in North Africa and the Sahel – Richard Chelin; Chapter 4: The Sahel’s ungoverned spaces and the ascent of AQIM, Al-Mourabitoun, and MUJAO in Mali and Niger – Celeste Hicks; Chapter 5: Why the Tuareg have been demonised – Prof. Jeremy Keenan; Chapter 6: Visions of an alternative world: Understanding the background to Boko Haram – Graham Furniss; Chapter 7: Boko Haram and counter-insurgency in Nigeria – Stephen Johnson; Chapter 8: The rise of ISIS and its implications for East Africa – Stephen Buchanan-Clarke; Chapter 9: The evolving threat of violent extremism and terrorism in the SADC region – Ric Chelin and Stephen Buchanan-Clarke; Chapter 10: Identity politics and the re-emergence of South Africa’s Far Right – Stephen Buchanan-Clark Chapter 11: The socio-economic rehabilitation & reintegration of Children Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups (CAAFAG): A community-based approach in Borno State, Nigeria – Emmanuel Bosah & Mustapha Al-Hassan; Chapter 12: Accounting for the rise of Islamist extremism in Africa: Origins, trajectory and recommendations – Hussein Solomon; Chapter 13: Transnational Evangelical Christianity and political culture in sub-Saharan Africa – Robert A. Dowd; Chapter 14: The United States’ approach to countering terrorism and violent extremism – Lindsay Cohn.

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Book SynopsisSchon vor über zweihundert Jahren fragte der preußische General, Heeresführer und Militärwissenschaftler Carl von Clausewitz danach, was der Krieg sei? Werden Antworten in der aktuellen Wissenschaft und Forschung gesucht, so wird unter Krieg ein organisierter Massenkonflikt verstanden. Während zwischenstaatliche kriegerische Auseinandersetzungen sich im Rückgang befinden, ist ein Anstieg von innerstaatlichen Konflikten, Konfliktinterventionen und Friedenssicherungsmissionen zu verzeichnen. Die Handlungen, Verläufe, Vorstellungen und Auswirkungen erscheinen heute diverser und schwerer zu erfassen denn je – die Unterschiede in den Ursachen, Logiken und Charakteristika sind mannigfaltig. Kriege und Konflikte entspinnen sich aufgrund von Ressourcenknappheit, territorialen und kulturellen Disputen, politischen Rivalitäten und Ideologien. Wird im ersten Schritt der Kriegs- und Konfliktanalyse gerade diesen Gründen Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet, erfolgt erst im Folgenden und fast als »Nebenschauplatz« die Erfassung der gesellschaftlichen Auswirkungen und späteren kulturellen Aufarbeitung von Kriegen und Konflikten. Was Kriege und Konflikte sind, ist dabei eng an vorherrschende Narrative und die Perspektive des Erzählenden gekoppelt und bleibt somit diffus. Jedoch: Kaum etwas trägt so viel Zäsurcharakter und zerstörerische Kraft in sich wie Kriege und Konflikte – sie wandeln gesellschaftliche Gegebenheit, meist nachhaltig und dauerhaft.

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Book SynopsisThis comprehensive volume analyzes the radical change in the nature of armed conflicts and in the way they are narrated and represented. Ever since the First World War has changed war itself, rendering meaningless the very vocabulary of war in terms such as "battle", "front", "non-combatant", "open city" and "hero", new words, new approaches, new theories and new texts had to be invented. The enemy became invisible: Submarines, tanks, mines, gas, long-range artillery, and airplanes made this war different from all the other that came before. A hundred years after the beginning of this terrible war, it is now time to recall different representations of the armed conflicts of the 20th century. The articles in this collection analyze representations of the Canudos Civil War in Brazil, the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the colonial wars in Africa, and the war in Afghanistan, aiming to understand how war and the telling of war have changed during the most murderous hundred years in the history of mankind.

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Book SynopsisExamines how violent conflicts reinforce patriarchy and the impact of militarization on gender, highlighting women's varied responses. Advocates for reformed democracy in S Asia that includes minority rights and multiculturalism, emphasizes women's roles, and calls for human security, justice, equality, and dismantling masculine power in warfare.

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Book SynopsisInsurgencies in North-East India: Moving Towards Resolution aims at creating an awareness of the current status of this national problem in parliamentarians, officers and officials of the Government of India, and the residents of the North-Eastern (NE) States. The author, combining extensive practical experience in counter insurgency operations with research and scholarship, consider the NE insurgencies within the larger context of our Constitution. Thereafter he focuses his enquiry progressively from our north-eastern region to an examination of the insurgencies Nagaland, Manipur and Assam, and then critical assesses the employment of security forces in counter insurgency (COIN) operations. He concludes with recommendations for the way ahead.

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Book SynopsisIn 1998 the Middle East Conflict celebrated its 50th anniversary and now, eight years later, no final general settlement is in sight. Despite peace agreements between Israel and two Arab countries in the nineteen nineties (Egypt and Jordan) and a part-settlement with the Palestinian authorities or PLO in 1993, violence reached its highest level in 2002/2004, and has still not abated, albeit decreased recently. The withdrawal of the Israeli forces and settlers from occupied Gaza is a step in the right direction, but too many uncertainties remain. Just now the political situation is confused in Israel. The Middle East Conflict gives a clear-cut study of the conflict from 1948-2005. It should be fairly easy for readers without any special foreknowledge to read if they have a keen interest in political matters and want to understand this long drawn conflict that over the years developed into what the author describes as war. May be more dramatic than necessary, but the conflict has had a serious repercussions anywhere in the area conflict -- including a damaging civil war in Lebanon -- and also in a larger area than the one this study outs its focus on, namely the direct involved neighbours of Israel and the Jewish nation itself.

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Book SynopsisWhy is it that warfare in Southeast Asian history is depicted so differently in various historical sources and representations? Why have scholars looking at different countries found so many exceptions to regional overviews of warfare? This fascinating volume seeks to present a new approach to the study of warfare in the region by abandoning the generalizations made in the conventional literature. The contributors offer a range of new studies of warfare in local areas within the region, looking at warfare on its own, local terms rather than for what it says about warfare in the region as a whole. This approach for the first time submits Southeast Asia to comparative analysis in a way that avoids artificial and misleading regional attributes. The varied case studies - researched and written by a number of experts of local warfare within the region - include naval warfare in eighteenth century Vietnam, civil war in South Sulawesi during the Pénéki War, the art and texts of war in Burmese warfare, modes of warfare in pre-colonial Bali, war captive taking in Thailand, kinship, religion, and war in late eighteenth century Maguindanao, and preparations for war in the Pacific rimlands. The volume makes an important contribution to the new literature emerging on the culture of indigenous warfare in North and South America, Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific Islands, by offering a new and robust Southeast Asian entry on the one hand while adding to a new approach to the growing literature on early modern Southeast Asia warfare.

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Book SynopsisWars and conflicts have become a near constant presence today, brought to us on a real-time basis on myriad communication devices. A cursory scan of recent conflicts reveals the blurring lines between war and peace, state versus non-state, regular and irregular, and conventional vis-à-vis unconventional. Over the past decade or so, the prevailing security environment in many regions has changed radically. Simultaneously the probability of conventional conflict between states or groups of states has steadily declined while sub-conventional conflict has gained prominence.These small, niggling wars have been termed as hybrid, non-linear, grey zone, or unrestricted, among others. It thus becomes necessary to enquire ontologically and epistemologically into these terms to understand if they allude to the same phenomenon through different frames. Furthermore, are these an aberration or, increasingly, the convention? This book tries to address this crucial research gap related to the changing character of conflicts in the strategic discourse in India.

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Book SynopsisThis collective work analyzes the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, providing a coherent picture of Ukraine and Eastern Europe in the period 2013–2020. Giving voice to different social groups, scholarly communities and agencies relevant to Ukraine’s recent history, The War in Ukraine's Donbas goes beyond simplistic media interpretations that limit the analysis to Vladimir Putin and Russian aims to annex Ukraine. Instead, the authors identify the deeper roots linked to the autonomy and history of Donbas as a region. The contributions explore local society and traditions and the alienation from Ukraine caused by the events of Euromaidan, which saw the removal of the Donetsk-based president Viktor Yanukovych. Other chapters address the refugee crisis, the Minsk Accords in 2014 and the impact of the new president Volodymyr Zelensky and his efforts to bring the war to an end by negotiations among Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany. The book concludes with four proposals for a durable peace in Donbas: territorial power-sharing; the conversion of rebels into legitimate political parties; amnesty for all participants of the armed conflict; and a transitional period of several years until political institutions are fully re-established.Trade Review"Overall, this book offers food for thought on a number of important issues relevant to understanding developments in the Donbas and their wider consequences. It is eminently accessible in a way which will make it of interest to more general readers as well as scholars and students of international relations, law and history. Although focused upon the Donbas region in the period prior to the start of the much greater conflict in Ukraine as a whole in 2022, many of the observations carry wider relevance in making sense of the current war." http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/115885/1/usappblog_2022_07_03_book_review_the_war_in_ukraines_donbas_origins.pdf -- Gary Wilson * LSE Review of Books *"It is here that Marples’s gifts for editing such a collection shine through. As the book’s title promises, the origins and contexts of the Donbas conflict are elucidated, and the final chapter effectively brings the work to a close by offering possible futures and a better state of peace for all involved—via a negotiated settlement based on power sharing, deployment of peacekeepers and election monitors, amnesty for combatants, and establishment of a truth commission." https://networks.h-net.org/node/12840/reviews/12874234/mcintosh-marples-war-ukraines-donbas-origins-contexts-and-future -- Scott McIntosh * H-War *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements David R. Marples, Introduction William Jay Risch, Prelude to War? The Maidan and Its Enemies in the Donbas Alina Cherviatsova, Hybrid War and Hybrid Law: Minsk Agreements in the Context of International Law and Ukrainian Legislation Kimitaka Matsuzato, The First Four Years of the Donetsk People’s Republic: The Differentiating Elites and Surkov’s Political Technologists Oksana Mikheieva, Motivations of Pro-Russian and Pro-Ukrainian Combatants in the Context of the Russian Military Intervention in the Donbas Nataliia Stepaniuk, Limited Statehood, Collective Action, and Reconfiguration of Citizenship in Wartime: Volunteer Engagement Amidst the Donbas War Ernest Gyidel, Ukrainian Internally Displaced Persons and the Future of Donbas Oleksandr Melnyk, War Dead and (Inter)-Communal Ethics in the Russian-Ukrainian Borderlands: 2014–2018 Alla Hurska, Russia's Hybrid Strategy in the Sea of Azov: Divide and Antagonize Sergey Sukhankin, Russian Private Military Contractors in the Donbas: Rehearsing Future Voyages Serhiy Kudelia, Civil War Settlements and Conflict Resolution in the Donbas List of Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisAside from the near-complete devastation of a sovereign state and reversal of the global balance of power, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 is leading to a radical transformation in the Eastern European and Eurasian regions – including Russia itself. The 13 chapters in this volume examine the main geopolitical consequences of the resurgent imperialist aspirations of the Russian Federation. They examine the ideological tools of history falsification as an integral part of hybrid warfare. Turning to the economy, the book discusses how the war and economic sanctions imposed on Russia are redrawing the geopolitical map and how economic relations would change following a regime transformation. The book discusses the reactions of members of the international community to the invasion, whether threatened or neutral parties or allies. The collection therefore offers a comprehensive picture of the main consequences of the resurgent imperialist aspirations of the Russian Federation. Equipped with the conceptual tools of the analysis with a focus on the patronal features of the political-economic system, the book considers the aftermath of the war. This collection complements the book entitled Ukraine. Patronal Democracy and the Russian Invasion.Table of ContentsChronology of Russia (1985-2022) Foreword by Kirill Rogov I. Russia’s Patronal Autocracy: Ideology and Sociology of Imperial Warfare Elites in the war and after Putin (Nikolay Petrov) Socially Inclusive and Exclusive Warfighting: Comparing Ukraine and Russia’s Ways of War (András Rácz) The Falsification of History: War and Russian Memory Politics (Zoltán Sz. Bíró) Enter the “Bloody Clown”: Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky in the Lens of Russia’s Media Machine (Kostiantyn Fedorenko) Authoritarian Deflation: How Russia Lost the Information War against the West (Péter Krekó, Boglárka Rédl) II. Geopolitical Structures and the War: The Changing Position of Russia and Ukraine In the Gravitational Tensions of East and West: The Systemic and Geopolitical Integration Patterns of Ukraine and Moldova (Kálmán Mizsei) Neo-Backwardness and Prospects for Long-Term Growth: The effects of Western sanctions on Russia and the changing embeddedness of Ukraine in the world economy (Dóra Győrffy) The politics of energy and natural resources in Ukraine (Dmytro Tuzhanskyi) Forced Displacement of Ukrainians during the War: Patterns of Internal and External Migration (2014-2022) (Oksana Mikheieva, Viktoria Sereda, Lidia Kuzemska) III. The International Community: Patronal and Non-Patronal Responses to the War Crescent Rising? The Baltic, Romanian, and “V3” Reaction to the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war (Zsombor Zeöld) Hungary’s Dubious Loyalty: Orbán’s Regime Strategy in the Russia-Ukraine War (Bálint Madlovics, Bálint Magyar) Defensive Submission, Lucrative Neutrality, and Silent Detachment: Post-Soviet Patronal Autocracies in the Shadow of Russian Invasion (Anatoly Reshetnikov) The Russia-Ukraine War and China: Neutrality with Imperial Characteristics (Gyula Krajczár)

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Book SynopsisThe Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 jeopardizes the country's independence and its chances for Western-style development. However, the heroic attitude of the Ukrainian people, combined with a solidifying national identity, makes the domestic foundations for a western turn stronger than ever. After the invasion, building strong foundations of liberal democracy will be a top priority. In addition to alleviating immediate problems, the country must also address its post-communist legacy and address the constraints of patronalism. The authors of this edited volume, leading Ukrainian scholars supplemented by colleagues from Hungary, examine the chances of an anti-patronal transformation after the war. The book provides an overview of the development of Ukraine's political-economic system: color revolutions in 2004 and 2014 brought democratic transformation, but no change in the patronage system The result was patronal regime cycles instead of the emergence of a Western-type liberal democracy in the country. Building on the conceptual framework of the editors' The Anatomy of Post-Communist Regimes (CEU Press, 2020), the 12 chapters examine the impact of the war on patronal democracy, the relational economy, clientelist society, and the international environment in which Ukraine operates. This collection is complemented by the book entitled Russia. Imperial Endeavor and Geopolitical Consequences.Table of ContentsChronology of Modern Ukraine (1922–2022) Preface by Henry E. Hale I. Ukraine’s Patronal Democracy: Actors, Processes, and Social Roots Ukrainian Regime Cycles and the Russian Invasion – Bálint Madlovics and Bálint Magyar Patronalism and Limited Access Social Order: The Case of Ukraine – Vladimir Dubrovskiy Continuity and Change of the Social Contract in Ukraine: The Case of Contested Anti-Corruption Policies – Oksana Huss Regime Cycles and Neopatrimonialism in Ukraine – Oleksandr Fisun, Uliana Movchan War, De-oligarchization, and the Possibility of Anti-Patronal Transformation in Ukraine – Mikhail Minakov II. Oligarchic Structures and the War: A Chance for Anti-Patronal Transformation? Ukrainian Oligarchs: The War as a Challenge – Igor Burakovsky, Stanislav Yukhymenko Ukraine’s Energy Sovereignty in Time of War: Russia Lost Influence, but the Oligarchs Did Not – Dmytro Tuzhanskyi The Main Driving Forces of De-Patronalization in Ukraine: The Role of Ukrainian Business – Vladimir Dubrovskiy Ukraine’s Criminal Ecosystem and the War: Ukrainian Organized Crime in 2022 –Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - GI-TOC III. The Ukrainian Society: Anti-Patronal Changes in Identity and Activism From Patronalism to Civic Belonging: The Changing Dynamics of the National-Civic Identity in Ukraine – Evgenii Golovakha, Kateryna Ivashchenko-Stadnik, Oksana Mikheieva, Viktoryia Sereda The Ukrainian Civil Volunteer Movement during Wartime (2014–2022) – Csilla Fedinec Ukraine’s Religious Landscape: Between Repression and Pluralism – Denis Brylov, Tetiana Kalenychenko Transforming Patronal Democracy Bottom-Up: Two Logics of Local Governance in Ukraine – Oleksandra Keudel Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisThis study analyzes the various types and stages of conflict that have been experienced by diverse groups and generations of Karen over the six decades of armed conflict between the Karen National Union (KNU) and successive Burmese governments. Instead of focusing on those who are internally displaced, those in the refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border or living abroad, or those in the KNU, it places particular emphasis on the 'other' Karen - the majority segment of the Karen population living inside Burma - a population that has hitherto received little scholarly and journalistic attention. It also assesses the Karen people's varied attitudes towards a number of political organizations that claim to represent their interests, towards successive Burmese military regimes, and towards the political issues that led to the original divide between the 'accommodators' and 'rebels'. This study argues that the lifestyles and strategies that the Karens have pursued are diverse and not confined to armed resistance. Acknowledging these multiple voices will not only shed light upon the many positive features of ethnic interactions, including harmonious communal relationships and significant attempts to promote peace and stability by encouraging 'normal' activities and routines in both peaceful and war-torn areas; it will also help to identify policy recommendations for future ceasefire negotiations and a possible long-term political settlement within the context of a militarised Burma.

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Book SynopsisBurma faces a complex of interlinked humanitarian, social, and political crises. The situation is especially grave in areas populated by ethnic minorities, many of which have been affected by decades of armed conflict, and in the Irrawaddy Delta, where in May 2008 some 130,000 people were killed and over two million made homeless by Cyclone Nargis.The military government is deeply unpopular, and further episodes of mass protest similar to those that occurred in August and September 2007 cannot be ruled out. However, strategic options for elite-level regime change in the country remain limited. Therefore, local and international actors should focus on incremental approaches to democratisation, and in particular on the roles of local communities and NGOs. The past decade has seen an expansion of previously dormant civil society networks, especially within and between ethnic nationality communities. This development has been particularly significant in areas affected by ceasefires between armed ethnic groups and the military government. The capacities and strategic importance of local NGOs were demonstrated by the impressive civil society responses to the cyclone.At the local level, models of community participation and the promotion of democracy from below can help to transform state-society relations and patterns of governance, including in ceasefire areas. At the national/elite level, the development of civil society is a prerequisite for sustainable democratic change.Although the promotion of civil society is necessary, it is not sufficient to achieve social and political transition in Burma. Furthermore, community networks are vulnerable to suppression by the militarised state and by armed nonstate actors. Such tendencies were demonstrated during the national referendum of May 2008, when the government engineered the endorsement of a new constitution designed to consolidate and perpetuate military rule. The challenge for the international community is to work within the constricted environment of military-ruled Burma in ways that promote positive change - but without exposing local partners to unacceptable risks.

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Book SynopsisSoutheast Asia and Bangladesh are at present global hot spots of pirate attacks on merchant vessels and fishing boats. This book explains why, and in what form, piracy still exists. It offers an integrated analysis of the root causes of piracy, linking declining fish stocks, organised crime networks, radical politically motivated groups, the use of flags of convenience, the lack of state control over national territory, and the activities of private security companies, and identifies their wider security implications.

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Book SynopsisOn 24 February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale air, land, and sea attack on the independent and democratic state of Ukraine. The United States and its allies around the world have condemned Russia's 'unprecedented military aggression' as 'unprovoked and unjustified.' The United States and allies, including the European Union (EU), EU members, and the United Kingdom (UK), have provided or pledged new military assistance to Ukraine. Members of legislatures, local governments, businesses, and the public in the United States and many other countries have expressed support for Ukraine and have condemned Russia's invasion. This book compiles various aspects of this conflict and also includes some products published before the invasion that offer relevant background and context.

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