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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Defence strategy, planning & research > General
Today more than one hundred small, asymmetric, and revolutionary
wars are being waged around the world. This book provides
invaluable tools for fighting such wars by taking enemy
perspectives into consideration. The third volume of a trilogy by
Max G. Manwaring, it continues the arguments the author presented
in "Insurgency, Terrorism, and Crime" and "Gangs,
Pseudo-Militaries, and Other Modern Mercenaries." Using case
studies, Manwaring outlines vital survival lessons for leaders and
organizations concerned with national security in our contemporary
world.
The insurgencies Manwaring describes span the globe. Beginning with
conflicts in Algeria in the 1950s and 1960s and El Salvador in the
1980s, he goes on to cover the Shining Path and its resurgence in
Peru, Al Qaeda in Spain, popular militias in Cuba, Haiti, and
Brazil, the Russian youth group Nashi, and drugs and politics in
Guatemala, as well as cyber warfare.
Large, wealthy, well-armed nations such as the United States have
learned from experience that these small wars and insurgencies do
not resemble traditional wars fought between geographically
distinct nation-state adversaries by easily identified military
forces. Twenty-first-century irregular conflicts blur traditional
distinctions among crime, terrorism, subversion, insurgency,
militia, mercenary and gang activity, and warfare.
Manwaring's multidimensional paradigm offers military and civilian
leaders a much needed blueprint for achieving strategic victories
and ensuring global security now and in the future. It combines
military and police efforts with politics, diplomacy, economics,
psychology, and ethics. The challenge he presents to civilian and
military leaders is to take probable enemy perspectives into
consideration, and turn resultant conceptions into strategic
victories.
'The Art of War' is as relevant to today's warriors in business,
politics, and everyday life as it once was to the warlords of
ancient China. It is one of the most useful books ever written on
leading with wisdom, an essential tool for modern corporate
warriors battling to gain the advantage in the boardroom, and for
anyone struggling to gain the upper hand in confrontations and
competitions.
This textbook anthology of selected readings on pressing Middle
East security concerns serves as an invaluable single-volume
assessment of critical security issues in nations such as
Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.
The issues and current events of the Greater Middle East continue
to hold deep implications for American geopolitical interests in
the region—as they have for many decades. An ideal resource for
students in undergraduate courses on the Middle East and related
regions as well as students in graduate programs of international
studies or security studies, this textbook anthologizes recent,
insightful analyses by top scholars on trends and events in the
Middle East that bear crucially on regional and global security
considerations, covering topics like Iran's nuclear ambitions; the
rise, ebb, and resurgence of Al Qaeda; and the war in Syria. The
essays address concerns that include the re-imposition of military
rule in Egypt; the current status of Palestinian-Israeli relations;
the civil war and proposed chemical inspections in Syria;
Sunni-Shiite conflict and the revitalized al Qaeda presence in Iraq
and the Sunni resurgence in Iraq and Syria; and the
on-again-off-again international monitoring of nuclear facilities
in Iran, along with discussions of that country's connections to
the Syrian regime and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The use of drone
strikes as antiterrorist weapons and their use within U.S. and
international law also receive specific attention. Each reading is
summarized and contextualized by a concise introduction that serves
to enhance the integration of the individual readings across the
book. Original source notes are included with each chapter as
guides to further reading, and numerous maps provide an essential
sense of place. The book also includes a glossary of terms and a
register of brief biographies of significant persons.
As the confluence of networks that is the modern Internet grows to
encompass everything from nuclear reactors to home appliances, the
affordances offered to the average citizen grow as well-but so,
too, do the resources made available to those with malicious
intent. Through the rise of Big Data and the Internet of Things,
terrorist organizations today have been freed from geographic and
logistical confines and now have more power than ever before to
strike the average citizen directly at home. This, coupled with the
inherently asymmetrical nature of cyberwarfare-which grants great
advantage to the attacker-has created an unprecedented national
security risk that both governments and their citizens are woefully
ill-prepared to face. The Handbook of Research on Civil Society and
National Security in the Era of Cyber Warfare addresses the problem
of cyber terrorism head-on, first through a review of current
literature, and then through a series of progressive proposals
aimed at researchers, professionals, and policymakers. Touching on
such subjects as cyber-profiling, hacktivism, and digital
counterterrorism, this collection offers the tools to begin
formulating a ground-up resiliency to cybersecurity threats that
starts at the civilian level.
Examines the causes and consequences of Saudi Arabia's current
security policy and the domestic, regional, and international
challenges the country's defense program presents to the general
welfare of the Middle East. As possessor of a quarter of the
world's oil reserves and host to two of the holiest cities in
Islam, Saudi Arabia is an integral part of the cultural, economic,
and political well-being of the Middle East. From Persian Gulf
security, to Middle Eastern politics, to the international energy
industry, events in this desert kingdom strongly impact the
stability of the region. This comprehensive resource analyzes
contemporary Saudi Arabia-its modern history, the role of Islam,
and the nature of Saudi foreign relations-and reveals how these and
other factors dictate and shape the country's current security
policies and priorities. Middle East expert and author Mathew Gray
has organized the work into six sections: the first provides an
historical overview of the region from the mid-1700s to the 1980s;
the second explores the Saudi political and security system; the
third discusses Saudi-U.S. relations; the fourth looks at Saudi
relations with the Gulf region and the wider Middle East; and the
fifth considers Saudi Arabia's role in Sunni extremism and
terrorism. The final chapter looks at emerging security threats for
Saudi Arabia. The book includes an overview of future challenges
and risks including climate change, water shortages, and problems
of Saudi identity and social dispersion. Explains the role of oil
in sustaining the state-society political bargain, and the impact
of population on its effectiveness Links Islam and Islamic
extremism to a range of influencing factors, including political
pressure, demographic changes, and the role of globalization in
fostering more extreme views Weaves together an analysis of
politics, economics, foreign relations, and social change, showing
how these all relate to and impact each other and, above all, shape
Saudi Arabia's and the Middle East's security environment
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