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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > General
Why do the combat capabilities of individual soldiers vary so much? This book seeks to provide an answer to this and other questions about variability in combat performance. Some soldiers flee quickly from the battlefield, while others endure all hardships until the bitter end. Some combat units can perform numerous types of missions, while others cannot keep themselves organized during peacetime. Some militaries armed with obsolete weapons have out fought enemies with the latest weapons, just as some massively outnumbered armies have beaten back much larger opponents. In this first social scientific study of the effectiveness of combat troops, Newsome evaluates competing explanations for the varying combat capabilities and performances. There are four main explanations, each emphasizing the influence of a single factor. The first focuses on material endowments. How well funded are the troops? Do they have the latest protective gear and the most advanced weaponry? Second, some analysts claim that democracies produce better commanders, superior strategies, more motivated personnel, or better-managed personnel; others, however, associated those characteristics with more authoritarian forms of government. Third is the idea that giving more power to the troops on the ground in individual combat units empowers them with decision-making capability and adaptability to fast-changing situations and circumstances. Newsome presents evidence that decentralized personnel management does correlate with superior combat performance. Fourth, soldier capabilities and performance often are assumed to reflect intrinsic attributes, such as prior civilian values. Newsome argues that the capabilities ofcombat soldiers are acquired through military training and other forms of conditioning, but he does not entirely discount the role of a soldier's individual character. In the age-old nature vs. nurture argument, he finds that intrinsic qualities do count, but that extrinsic factors, such as training and environment, matter even more.
Exploring the experiences of children encountering war and armed conflict, this book draws upon history, ethnography, sociology, literature, media studies, psychology, public policy, and other disciplines to address children as soldiers, refugees, and peace-builders within their social, cultural, and political contexts.
A discussion of the radical alteration of the character of American society caused by World War II. The war redefined the relationship of government to the individual and of individuals to each other, and it posed questions about the relationship between civilians and the military, between liberty and security, between special interests and national purpose.
"The distinguished Pakistani scholar, . . . provides a work that
invites comparison with the Turkish situation since before World
War II." "The study sheds light on three domestic pressures facing
Pakistan: militarization, secularization, and Islamic
fundamentalism." To the north an extended civil war in Afghanistan fuelled by arms from Russia and the US. To the west a fundamentalist Islamic region in Iran with links to international terrorism. To the northeast a secessionist guerilla war in Kashmir. To the east, India, with which Pakistan has fought two wars in forty years. In these volatile circumstances, Pakistan's armed forces continue to play an important role both internally and externally. Since their creation out of the communal violence of partition at the end of WWII, the armed forces of Pakistan have played a central role in the Pakistan state, periodically usurping the civil authority and ruling in its own right. The Armed Forces of Pakistan describes the nature of Pakistan's defense capabilities and the forces which will shape them in the twenty-first century. It surveys the forces locked in conflict over the nuclear option and examines the three internal pressures Pakistan continues to face--militarization, secularization, and Islamic fundamentalism.
Although numerous biographies have been written about Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, none has offered a careful examination of his three-year command of the allied occupation army in France between 1815 and 1818. In this work, Thomas Dwight Veve fully details Wellington's last active military posting, exploring the major role he played not only as an officer but also as a statesman. In doing so, he demonstrates that Wellington's command was not simply the final chapter in a successful military career, but rather an important transition to his future political endeavors. Veve describes the complete history of the allied occupation, from the peace negotiations and establishment of an occupying force, to the Conference of Aix-la-Chapelle and the departure of the allies. The full range of Wellington's duties and accomplishments are examined, including his inspection of the crucial Dutch barrier fortress renovation program and his decisions regarding troop reductions and the final termination of occupation. Also cited is Wellington's extraordinary management of what was the first multinational peacekeeping operation, his ability to maintain neutrality for the army, and the many years of stability and peace that followed his assignment. This book will be an essential reference work for students and scholars of military history, British history, and political science, as well as for college, university, and public libraries.
In Shaping U.S. Military Forces, D. Robert Worley assesses military force changes that have been made since the Cold War, explains the many changes that have not been made, and recommends changes that must be made—as well as exploring the ways in which political and military forces line up to resist them. For over forty years there was consensus about maintaining large U.S. military forces. Today, as evidenced by the steady decline in defense spending since 1985, that consensus has evaporated, and a new equilibrium is being sought. Yet evidence of transformation is modest. By outward appearances, today's military is principally a smaller version of our Cold War forces, despite the fact that threat, missions, and strategies have changed. There has been no lack of reform effort at the highest levels of the defense bureaucracy. Under the leadership of General Colin Powell, the Joint Chiefs of Staff reexamined the roles and missions of the services. Recommendations followed. But, according to observers, change occurred only at the margins. Worley argues that the highly institutionalized cultures of the uniformed services offer the best explanation for why the American military is not a different force well over a decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Significant historical events, primarily from World War II forward, are used to explain belief systems within the individual services and sometimes within specific branches within a single service. Force planners commonly measure military end strength in terms of divisions, wings, and battle groups. Therefore, Worley examines the most important organizational structures—armored and infantry divisions, fighter and bomber wings, and carrier battle groups—and does so in the context of conflicts, including Vietnam, the Gulf War, Panama, Kosovo, and Somalia, and of course the unfinished conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. He highlights problems associated with the clash of service conceptions of war and the requirements of real conflict to examine the shape U.S. military forces have—and the shape they should assume.
Master Sergeant Gordon L. Ewell is a combat engineer and expert in the tactics and techniques the enemy used in Iraq to assemble, disguise, and detonate deadly improvised explosive devices (IEDs). He became part of the first special two-solider team whose mission was to find and render safe the IEDs, before they could unleash their deadly force upon other soldiers, convoys, civilians, and local civilian commuters during the War in Iraq. He performed fifty-nine dangerous missions, coauthored a first-of-its-kind manual used for the training of special teams that would have the mission of finding IEDs, was "blown-up" six different times, and saved countless lives. He received the Bronze Star Medal for "demonstrating personal courage and conviction on multiple occasions by continually performing his duties while under enemy attack," and the Purple Heart Medal for "wounds received while engaged in combat" during the war. Though permanently disabled, he continues to fight. A Lifetime at War is more than just an incredible and inspiring personal account of his road to recovery. Once again Ewell is using his expertise and experience-this time to help wounded warriors navigate the hell of recovery. He helps us all to understand that while the War in Iraq may have ended on December 15, 2011, for the thousands of soldiers severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, their war will never end.
This book brings together experienced military leaders and researchers in the human sciences to offer current operational experience and scientific thought on the issue of military command, with the intention of raising awareness of the uniquely human aspects of military command. It includes chapters on the personal experiences of senior commanders, new concepts and treatises on command theory, and empirical findings from experimental studies in the field.
Traditionally, security has been the realm of the state and its uniformed police. However, in the last two decades, many actors and agencies, including schools, clubs, housing corporations, hospitals, shopkeepers, insurers, energy suppliers and even private citizens, have enforced some form of security, effectively changing its delivery, and overall role. In The Securitization of Society, Marc Schuilenburg establishes a new critical perspective for examining the dynamic nature of security and its governance. Rooted in the works of the French philosophers Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze and Gabriel Tarde, this book explores the ongoing structural and cultural changes that have impacted security in Western society from the 19th century to the present. By analyzing the new hybrid of public-private security, this volume provides deep insight into the processes of securitization and modern risk management for the police and judicial authorities as well as other emerging parties. Schuilenburg draws upon four case studies of increased securitization in Europe - monitoring marijuana cultivation, urban intervention teams, road transport crime, and the collective shop ban - in order to raise important questions about citizenship, social order, and the law within this expanding new paradigm. An innovative, interdisciplinary approach to criminological theory that incorporates philosophy, sociology, and political science, The Securitization of Society reveals how security is understood and enacted in urban environments today.
"The greatest threat to the U.S.'s homeland security is not a terrorist attack with a dirty bomb; it is an unexpected nuclear Pearl Harbor." - Author "Taiwan's democratic achievement and vision of the future . . . are consistent with the American experience. Will Beijing eventually follow such a course? Decisions are still to be made, and there are limits to how effectively the U.S. can influence these decisions. But we can and we must continue to support Taiwan. Its security is ultimately our security. Of that we can be sure." - the late Congressman Gerald B. H. Solomon Li explains how America's security hinges on Taiwan's survival as an independent democracy.
Ankersen examines Canada's civil-military cooperation efforts in Kosovo, Bosnia, and Afghanistan through the lens of Clausewitz's 'Remarkable Trinity'. The book reveals how military action is the product of influences from the government, the armed forces, and the people at home.
A radical reappraisal of two key figures in the history of the Israeli Right, this is the first book to explore in depth the development of military Zionism, and gives important insights into the political status of Israel today. Why did Israel shift from a state based on pioneering egalitarianism and 'making the desert bloom' to one which is chiefly known for its military prowess? "The Triumph of Military Zionism" examines Israel's shift to the right at the hands of Menachem Begin, the supposed 'disciple' of Vladimir Jabotinsky. Shindler's book uses original research to challenge the conventional wisdom that Begin was the natural heir to Jabotinsky. He demonstrates through hitherto unpublished sources how Israel drifted away from Jabotinsky's ideas towards a maximalist Zionism because Begin's very selective interpretation of his mentor's words did not reflect Jabotinsky's intentions. This invaluable addition to the study of Israel's political history will appeal to both Middle Eastern and military historians.
This issue of the Unesco Yearbook focuses on World War II, a war which raises a number of issues for peace research and for social science research in general. One issue concerns the extent of the war which, although centered in Europe, also involved large parts of North Africa and Southeast Asia as well. Conflict outside of Europe can be traced to underlying problems of colonization and decolonization. In Europe, the war can be related to the aftermath of World War I and the subsequent inability of the League of Nations to arbitrate between opposing interests. The economic depression of the 1930s and the rise of fascism are also key factors; the rise of fascism, in turn, can be traced in part to the desire on the part of Germany and Italy to retrieve ingredients of their cultural past. In Japan, however, militarism was incurred less by the rise of fascism, than by Japan's semifeudalized, militarized industrial development. Perhaps the most significant issue is the watershed nature of World War II, which was marked by the impact of the atomic bomb in changing the nature and implications of warfare and by the emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as major powers with new alliances which drastically altered the geopolitical balance of power. The essays in this collection represent the contributions of international authorities on these critical issues. They deal with European currents of war such as the rise of fascism; the psychological mobilization of the German people; the policies of the Third Reich towards Jews, Gypsies, and Slavs; the Polish Resistance; the impact of the German and Italian occupation of North Africa; and Irish neutrality. They also treat movements in Asia, including the impact of militarism on Japanese society before and during the war; China's resistance against Japan and the founding of a new China; and the impact of the war on independence movements in Asia. The final sections of the volume contain the 1985 update of Unesco activities relating to peace and disarmament, and regional and national develolpments. The international perspectives of this volume's contributors make this a valuable contribution to peace studies and the study of the impact of World War II. It will provide enlightening reading for political scientists and for courses in peace studies and government policy.
The profound political changes in the USSR and Eastern Europe during 1989 have forced the United States and its Western European allies to reevaluate both their long held military strategy of nuclear deterrence and the traditional role of NATO in European affairs. In this volume, Stephen Cimbala considers the ways in which American military priorities will have to change now that the tangible threat to Europe has been removed, exploring the options available to America and NATO given the new political and economic realities in Europe and the Soviet Union. Drawing upon a rich literature of Soviet and American defense strategy, Cimbala examines the structure and effectiveness of deterrence as a military strategy, the relationship between conventional and nuclear weapons, the likely course of future conflicts, and alternative military strategies. Following an introductory chapter which defines the concepts of deterrence and dissuasion and offers an overview of the changing character of European politics, Cimbala reviews the political context for the development of military strategy in Europe. Subsequent chapters consider the relationship between military stability and the likelihood of winning wars in their initial stages, analyze the issue of deterrence during war, discuss the potential for atypical wars in the future, and investigate the linkages between deception and deterrence. A separate chapter addresses the attempt to substitute non-nuclear dissuasion for nuclear deterrence, in the form of anti-nuclear strategic defenses which could defeat nuclear offenses. In the final chapter, Cimbala summarizes his conclusions and makes some additional observations about the implications of our new view of NATO and deterrence. Students of international relations, foreign policy, and military studies will find Cimbala's work enlightening and provocative reading.
In Western, developing, and totalitarian countries alike, the armed forces are powerful political organizations that play key roles in domestic politics. Yet, the literature on civilian-military relations provides few comparative examinations of the military's political role. In 27 chapters devoted to representative countries, this handbook looks at the varying roles the military plays around the world. Political role is defined as substantial and purposeful involvement in the making and allocating of wealth and social and political values. Using this definition, each chapter traces the historical background of civil-military relations in the country, identifies and analyzes the processes the military uses to exert political influence, evaluates the success and results of the military's political role, and projects future developments. As with any dynamic, organic body, the armed services in various countries change quickly and sometimes upredictably. The purpose of this book is beyond merely reporting whether a particular military is in the barracks as the 20th century draws to a close. Rather, the book offers analyses on the role that militaries have played in their societies, the historical forces that have shaped those roles, the socioeconomic constraints on them in the past, present, and anticipated in the future, and the current positions that armed forces have occupied in the last decade of the century.
This 12-volume set of previously out-of-print tiles examines many aspects of conflict and security in the Middle East. Works on the first Gulf War (including one on its environmental impact) sit alongside books about the superpowers, nuclear rivalry and attempts at peacemaking. |
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