Showing papers in "Small Wars & Insurgencies in 2003"

Warlords as alternative forms of Governance

Abstract: Warlord is a label that currently besets us on all fronts. The 2001–2002 military action in Afghanistan is illustrative of the West's ambivalent view of armed factions in the developing world in general. The demonisation of the Taliban and the elevation of the former ‘warlords’ of the opposition to the rather more grandiose sounding ‘Northern Alliance’, at once formalising the hitherto informal nature of the warlord system, implies that the term ‘warlord’ is synonymous with anarchy, violence and a breakdown in civilised values. ‘Warlord’ has become an ugly, detrimental expression, evoking brutality, racketeering and terrorism. Analysts referring to violence across developing countries routinely refer to ‘new wars’ and ‘post-modern’ conflict, and yet the language used to describe these phenomena is usually pre-modern (medievalism, baronial rule, new feudalism). This article outlines some examples of historical warlords and draws out the common issues. In particular it emphasises the fact that warlords have...

Winning hearts and minds in the ‘war on terrorism’

Abstract: Ten days after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon US President George W Bush addressed a joint session of Congress. In an emotional speech he declared war on terrorism and vowed that the US would not rest until all of the perpetrators were brought to justice and A1 Qaeda destroyed. In virtually the next breath he hastened to add that the US-led campaign would not be a war on Islam, a promise Muslims might have found more reassuring had the President not sounded so much like a Baptist preacher. Whatever its propaganda value, the speech distorted the reality of the struggle facing the West while tacitly acknowledging an important truth. Since terror is merely a weapon in a larger struggle, there can be no war on terrorism per se. The West faces a counterinsurgency campaign on a global scale. Winning the hearts and minds of disaffected people in lands where terrorism thrives must be central to conducting this campaign.

The Kennedy Administration, US Foreign Internal Security Assistance and the Challenge of ‘Subterranean War’, 1961–63

Abstract: US foreign internal security assistance, that is, support to ‘Free World’ governments threatened by subversion, terrorism, and insurgency, formed a central part of the Kennedy administration's strategy for defeating ‘wars of national liberation’. As part of the administration's counterinsurgency policy, support to police and paramilitary forces abroad was intended to improve the ability of friendly governments to identify and root our perceived threats to the states. Under the tenets of modernization theory embraced by administration officials, strong internal security forces were expected to contribute to nation-building by protecting the fragile development process underway in the developing world. However, in attempting to export the American police model, policymakers failed to consider whether US notions about internal security were appropriate for fractious and unstable regions of the world.

The Insurgency in Iraq

Abstract: This article is an interim assessment of the current insurgency that has broken out in Iraq since the formal termination of hostilities. It is based on a policy brief completed for the Middle East Institute in Washington DC and on open source data collected between May and August 2003. Although the security situation in Iraq deteriorated dramatically between January and April 2004, the study examines the origins of the insurgency and the various type of insurgent groups and their ideologies. It argues that it began as a localized insurgency in the disgruntled Sunni Arab areas and was bound to remain localized unless the Shi'i Arabs joined it. The US-led coalition needs to develop effective counter-insurgency strategies that combine political, socioeconomic, military measures to deal with the insurgency.

Warfare by other means: special forces, terrorism and grand strategy

Abstract: This contribution looks at the role of Special Forces in anti-terrorist operations with particular emphasis on the British Special Air Service. It argues that Special Forces have played a pivotal role in such operations since the era of Palestinian terrorism in the early 1970s. The essay looks at the operations in Afghanistan leading to the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001 and shows that the seven Special Forces involved there proved crucial to the success of the limited ground forces. In particular they served a valuable force multiplier by acting as a nexus between the regional warlords and the use of air power as well as mobile strike units against fortified Al Qaeda and Taliban positions. In the latter instance their success was mixed, involving attacks on difficult cave hideouts, though overall it can be concluded that Special Forces have demonstrated their capacity in fighting unconventional warfare against mobile and transnational terrorist groupings.

Spirits and the cross: religiously based violent movements in Uganda

Abstract: Uganda, together with some other African countries, has demonstrated the significant role that a combination of popular Christianity and traditional religions can play in mobilizing violent movements and terrorism. The Holy Spirit Movement and the Lord's Resistance Army have shown the ability of charismatic spirit mediums using complex rituals to mobilize and motivate followers in extended struggles. These two movements suggest a pattern that could be used in other violent opposition movements in Africa.

Information age, terrorism and warfare

Abstract: This essay will discuss two of the key pillars of asymmetry: notably Information Operations and terrorism, including the links between the two. While a great deal changed on 11 September 2001, one thing that has not changed in substance is the challenge of protecting the Information Society, notably from cyber-threats. Although the immediate threat to Western societies is from the physical and possibly bio-weapons favoured by Al Qaeda and its associates, it is time now to prepare for future threats to the information society, including cyber-threats.

United States special operations forces and the war on terrorism

Abstract: Those leading the war on terrorism have emphasized from the beginning that this war would be unlike other wars. Special Operations Forces (SOF) are military forces unlike other military forces. The implication is that SOF and the war on terrorism are thus made for each other. This contribution examines this assumption, the war on terrorism and SOF in greater detail.

A1 Qaeda and the radical Islamic challenge to western strategy

Abstract: The September 11 global crisis prompted by the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon raises major questions concerning the nature and trajectory of terrorism in the post-Cold War global order. Hitherto, terrorism has been largely debated by analysts at the level of nation states. Terrorist and insurgent movements have also been largely anchored in nationalist and ethnic power bases even when they have sought to mobilise a transnational ideological appeal on religious or class grounds. There have been a few exceptions to this pattern such as the alliance between the German Baader-Meinhof group and the Japanese Red Army Faction, but even such international alliances as this did not, until at least the 1980s, presage anything like a global terrorist network necessitating a global strategic response. This study examines terrorism and global strategic responses.

Basra and the Referent Points of Twofold War

Abstract: British operations in Basra during the 2003 war in Iraq are a paradigmatic example of twofold war in which strategies for regime change and reconstruction require a mix of conventional operations and internal security operations. This is not a new form of war, but it is a noticeable trend whose referent points and lines of demarcation deserve identification. Basra also offers insight into the way in which military force is applied in the post-11 September world, indicates how operations in urbanised societies are developing, and emphasises the role of security as a process or means.

Conducting operations in the realm of peace and security: key issues and challenges in the African context

Abstract: Africa is arguably the most important regional setting for United Nations peacekeeping challenges. In the 1990s, extensive efforts have been made by the United Nations in the fleld of peacekeeping with the speciflc aim of reducing the levels of conflicts on the continent. Another significant development relates to the fact that organisations in Africa have started to feature as important peacekeeping instruments in recent years as it is increasingly being accepted that there is a need for such institutions to take care of their own security requirements. However, a key issue at stake is the need to achieve greater consistency with regard to third-party intervention in African conflicts. A look at the more glaring examples of multinational operations in the name of peace and security gives a sense of the magnitude and difficulties often experienced during such endeavours. In addition, both past and current operations have brought to light certain perspectives and lessons that require careful analysis and s...

Winning the ‘War on Terror’? Roy Mason's Contribution to Counter-Terrorism in Northern Ireland

Abstract: Roy Mason's tenure as Northern Ireland Secretary marked a watershed, yet it has provoked little analysis. Contrary to his popular image, security policy under Mason remained within the limits that had determined the formulation of British counter-terrorism ever since 1972. It was precisely because of this strategic environment that Mason's contribution was little more than a change in rhetoric, the implications of which were contradictory. Likewise, his key political idea of promoting ‘constitutional security’ negated its stated purpose by furthering instability, and – in the longer term – by making Dublin's permanent inclusion in the government of the province a political imperative.

The Rebirth of Insurgency in Peru

Abstract: Peru has battled two major insurgent movements since 1980. Around 25,000 Peruvians have died in this war between the government against the Shining Path and the MRTA. The Peruvian military has been incapable of achieving total victory after several major operations and the capture of just about every major rebel leader. Even worse, after a few years of almost no activity, Shining Path seems to be re-emerging. The last remaining members of this insurgent group have made alliances with foreign terrorist groups, used drug traffic to fund their fight and sweet talked people who are very disappointed and mad at the current Toledo administration, to gain more supporters. Major changes have to occur to prevent both groups from becoming threats to national security and society as a whole, taking the country back to times when around half of the nation was declared to be under terrorist control. The defense budget must be increased to open new bases, buy new equipment and train soldiers better to fight the insurge...

Operation ‘enduring freedom’: a victory for a conventional force fighting an unconventional war

Abstract: The track record of the US military in unconventional wars has not been good and there were fears that Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’ might suffer the same fate as previous campaigns. This contribution explores why the Taliban were defeated so easily by the US in 2001. It challenges the view that America's victory was due solely to changes in its modus operandi or that the outcome heralds a change in the fortunes of the US when fighting unconventional war. It also questions the idea that America's victory was a consequence of Taliban incompetence. Instead, it explains the defeat of the Taliban in terms of the prevailing political conditions within Afghanistan, which made them vulnerable to attack. The essay concludes that current political circumstances could, in the long run, permit the resurrection of the Taliban and undermine the US-led coalition's victory.

Bringing it all back home: Hollywood returns to war

Abstract: This essay looks at two Hollywood films Black Hawk Down and We Were Soldiers as reflective of a more general popular mood in the US that accompanied Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’ and the removal of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. In part this mood was a militaristic one, though this can also be seen as a rather belated response by Hollywood to invest moral purpose in the US military following an earlier spate of hostile Vietnam war films. The two films examined are different in form: Black Hawk Down is a combat film about extraction while We Were Soldiers is unusual for a US Vietnam war film for investing moral purpose in both the US combat troops as well as the Vietnamese enemy. Overall it is possible to conclude that both films contribute to a kicking by Hollywood of its earlier Vietnam war ‘syndrome’ which is likely to have wider cultural and political repercussions.

Peacekeepers of the twenty-first century: a comparison between professional soldiers and draftees in peace support operations

Abstract: The proliferation and changing nature of peace support operations has placed demands on the military for which they were ill prepared. In some cases, soldiers ‘equipped’ with a strong warfighting ethos were simply unable to deal with complex emergencies and humanitarian roles. Some of the world's best military units often found peacekeeping duties inadequate for the training they had received and because of the vocation that motivated them to enlist. Conscript soldiers' participation in peace support operations in some cases has been poor, yet oftentimes they proved to be a winning card when faced with humanitarian duties and with the use of limited but firm amount of force. The Italian case, among others, is one of the most interesting examples of conscripts' performance in peace operations. Significant numbers of Italian conscripts were deployed in Lebanon, Albania, Somalia, Mozambique and again in Albania proving that they can represent a positive option in dealing with peacekeeping tasks.

The lost revolution: Edward Lansdale and the American defeat in Vietnam 1964–1968

Abstract: This article examines Edward Lansdale's return to South Vietnam during the Johnson administration. Lansdale offered a persuasive critique of the mistakes the American policy in Vietnam, but his potential influence was severely limited by a combination of bureaucratic infighting in Saigon and a general indifference to the political aspects of the conflict in Washington. While Lansdale was unable to signiflcantly influence the policies of the Johnson administration, his experience in Saigon during 1965–68 offers historians a unique perspective on many facets of American and South Vietnamese policymaking during a crucial period of the Vietnam War.

An ambivalent war: Russia's war on terrorism

Abstract: Since 9/11 the Russian Federation has professed strong support for the US war on terrorism and claimed to be Washington's most reliable ally in its victory over Afghanistan. Closer examination of Russian actions, however, reveals a consistently ambivalent approach to combating international terrorism. Russian actions in Chechnya and elsewhere are better understood in terms of traditional interests unchanged since Soviet times. Domestic considerations too have sometimes dictated Russian actions. Moscow will use the conflict in Chechnya to divert attention from problems at home. Even were the Russian Federation willing to pursue a more consistent and aggressive policy toward terrorism, its security forces lack the capability to do so effectively. The current reorganization of Russian armed forces does not promise to improve this situation.

The New Constabularies: Planning US Military Stabilization Missions

Abstract: Modern peace enforcement missions are much more akin to historical constabulary missions than they are to traditional peace operations. As such, the underlying strategic and operational bases for these missions are both more complex and have more elements that can go wrong than does classic peacekeeping. At the operational level, such issues as relations with civilian organizations, coordination with other nations' forces, and command and control of highly disparate elements become critical. The area in which the most significant problems have occurred, however, has been in translating political goals into a realistic military strategy.

A blunted spear: the failure of the African National Congress/South African Communist Party revolutionary war strategy 1961–1990

Abstract: Following a classic Maoist revolutionary war strategy, with both Guevarian and Giapist elements, the African National Congress (ANC) attempted to overthrow, through revolutionary violence, the apartheid government of South Africa. This struggle, which began in 1961 and was eventually suspended in mid-1990, witnessed the general failure of the ANC strategy: for all intents and purposes – and despite all claims to the contrary – the ANC and its armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe (‘Spear of the Nation’) failed to overthrow of the South African state by force, the purpose for which it was intended. The strongest indication of this was that the ANC was never able to establish (Phase One of revolutionary war) effective internal underground structures of any duration within South Africa. This much was clear when the ANC was unbanned in 1990, but was recognised long before: in October 1986, the ANC stated that ‘despite all our efforts, we have not come anywhere near the achievement of the objectives we set for ourselve...

11 September 2001 and the media

Abstract: The attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001 went beyond the culminating point of victory, pushed the US into declaring war on its enemies, and immediately united sections of the elite media across the world in horrified denunciation of the terrorists. The various national media usually react very differently to major international events, interpreting them according to their national interests and dispositions. However, until President Bush's State of the Union address at the end of January 2002 criticised the so-called axis of evil, condemnation of the attacks and sympathy for the US largely united those sections of the elite media in Japan, Britain, Pakistan and India, which are the subject of this essay.

Muslims, Islamists, and the Cold War

Abstract: A new devil has emerged to challenge Western values and public virtue, and ever so conveniently, the devil masqueraded in religious garb. Terrorism has become synonymous with Islamic fundamentalism if not with Islam itself, and a new iron wall has descended on the world, as Churchill said, separating East from West, Christendom from Islam. This study examines the question why US policy makers feel a persistent urge to draw foreign policy in moralistic terms and religious metaphor, often to their own detriment.

Post-territorial insurgency: the online activism of the revolutionary association of women of Afghanistan (RAWA)

Abstract: In this article, the RAWA Website is analyzed as an example of the transformation of global security in a context in which globalization, fragmentation, and the rise of new technologies for global communication embody new forms of political behaviour. In particular, the article outlines how a marginalized group in a remote country has used the Web to wage a worldwide struggle for hearts and minds. The author contends that such conditions for new security are manifest in a range of areas, including the 9/11 attacks. In this model, new forms of conflict combine innovative tactics and weapons in unexpected ways.