Global Insurgency and the Future of Armed Conflict Debating Fourth-generation Warfare

Global Insurgency and the Future of Armed Conflict examines the meaning of the rising tide of terrorism and guerrilla warfare, which increasingly dominate world-wide military planning. After the 1991 war with Iraq, it seemed that the '¬~Revolution in Military Affairs' would assure the United States and its allies of ever greater military dominance. However, rapid victories like the toppling of the Afghan Taliban in 2001 and Saddam Hussein in 2003 now seem like isolated events in a long struggle. For the first time since the Vietnam War ended, the problems of insurgency have leapt to the top of the international security agenda. Coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq are bogged down by insurgency, while virtually every country is struggling to ensure its domestic safety against terrorist threats.In this edited book, some leading advocates of '¬~Fourth Generation Warfare', led by T.X. Hammes and Bill Lind, maintain that irregular warfare is evolving into the dominant form of conflict. However, other strategic thinkers, such as Lawrence Freeman and Antulio Echevarria, argue that the novelty of irregular warfare has been exaggerated. Others examine the lessons of warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the ability of military organizations to deal with the new challenge. Case studies from the United States, India, Israel, NATO and others reveal military thinkers working at the limits of their trade to adapt old institutions and assumptions to address the rising challenge.The book will be of great interest to students of international security, strategic studies and terrorism studies, as well as to students at professional military colleges.Aaron Karp is Director of Studies on the Graduate Program for International Studies at Old Dominion University, Virginia. He is co-Editor of the journal Contemporary Security Policy.Regina Karp is Director of the Center for Regional and Global Studies at Old Dominion University. She is co-Editor of the journal Contemporary Security Policy.Terry Teriff is Senior Lecturer in International Security in the Department of Political Science and International Studies at Birmingham University, UK.Karp, Aaron is the author of 'Global Insurgency and the Future of Armed Conflict Debating Fourth-generation Warfare', published 2007 under ISBN 9780415413572 and ISBN 0415413575.