From 1973 to the 2003 liberation of Iraq, American military thought and defense planning was transformed. "US Military Innovation and Strategy after Vietnam" presents the reader with a clear overview and assessment of this Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA).
Robert Tomes skillfully details this thirty-year process that began in the aftermath of Vietnam, matured in the 1980s as Pentagon planners sought an integrated nuclear-conventional deterrent, and culminated with battles fought during sandstorms on the road to Baghdad in 2004. He distills the key historical, conceptual, and doctrinal factors central to the evolution of US defense policy and military thought during the last three decades. In doing so, Tomes explores the widespread perception that advanced US war fighting capabilities became suddenly available in the early 1990s, a perception that skewed defense policy discourse at a time when a more balanced understanding of historical factors was sorely needed.
In addition, the reader is presented with a wide range of invaluable insights into innovation phenomena and a clear understanding of the origins and core elements of recent US advances in areas such as battlefield surveillance and reconnaissance, long-range precision strike, stealth technology, and end-to-end information and knowledge capabilities.
This book will be of great interest to all students of the US military, military history and of military and strategic studies in general.

Gender, Justice, and the Wars in Iraq offers a feminist critique and reconstruction of just war theory. It points out gender biases in the just war tradition and suggests alternative jus ad bellum and jus in bello standards that emphasize women, political marginality, and empathy. Laura Sjoberg applies this feminist just war theory to analyze the wars in Iraq since the end of the Cold War-the First Gulf War, the war of sanctions, and the Second Gulf War. By examining international political discourse from and about Iraq, it shows where war generally and just war specifically are gendered. Through the stories of key just war characters like Jessica Lynch, this book reveals where women are omitted and subordinated in global politics. Sjoberg suggests that dialogue and empathy replace righteousness in just war thinking for the good of human safety everywhere and concludes with alternative visions of Gulf War policies, inspired by feminist just war theory.

Gender, Justice, and the Wars in Iraq offers a feminist critique and reconstruction of just war theory. It points out gender biases in the just war tradition and suggests alternative jus ad bellum and jus in bello standards that emphasize women, political marginality, and empathy. Laura Sjoberg applies this feminist just war theory to analyze the wars in Iraq since the end of the Cold War the First Gulf War, the war of sanctions, and the Second Gulf War. By examining international political discourse from and about Iraq, it shows where war generally and just war specifically are gendered. Through the stories of key just war characters like Jessica Lynch, this book reveals where women are omitted and subordinated in global politics. Sjoberg suggests that dialogue and empathy replace righteousness in just war thinking for the good of human safety everywhere and concludes with alternative visions of Gulf War policies, inspired by feminist just war theory."

"This brief, provocative, and accessible book offers snapshots of seven pernicious myths in military history that have been perpetrated on unsuspecting students, readers, moviegoers, game players, and politicians. It promotes awareness of how myths are created by 'the spurious misuse and ignorance of history' and how misleading ideas about a military problem, as in asymmetric warfare, can lead to misguided solutions. "Both scholarly and engaging, this book is an ideal addition to military history and historical methodology courses. In fact, it could be fruitfully used in any course that teaches critical thinking skills, including courses outside the discipline of history. Military history has a broad appeal to students, and there's something here for everyone. From the so-called 'Western Way of War' to its sister-myth, technological determinism, to the 'academic party game' of once-faddish 'Military Revolutions,' the book shows that while myths about history may be fun, myth busting is the most fun of all." -Reina Pennington, Norwich University

Necessity and proportionality hold a firm place in the international law governing the use of force by states, as well as in the law of armed conflict. However, the precise contours of these two requirements are uncertain and controversial. The aim of Necessity and Proportionality in International Peace and Security Law is to explore how necessity and proportionality manifest themselves in the modern world under the law governing the use of force and the law of armed conflict, and how they relate to each other. The book explores the ways in which necessity and proportionality are applied in practice and addresses pressing legal issues in the law on the use of force, including the controversial "unwilling and unable" test for the use of force in self-defense, drones and targeted killing, the application of this legal regime during civil war, and the need for further transparency in states' justification for the use of force in self-defense. The analysis of the role of military necessity within the law of armed conflict on the modern battlefield focuses on the history and nature of the principle of military necessity, the proper application of the principle of proportionality, how commanders should account for mental harm in calculating proportionality, and the role artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons systems may play in proportionality analysis. The book concludes with a discussion of the potential role of proportionality in the law governing post-conflict contexts.

This is the first scholarly book to look at the role of the 'warrior' in modern war, arguing that warriors' actions, and indeed thoughts, are increasingly patrolled and that the modern battlefield is an unforgiving environment in which to discharge their vocation.

As war becomes ever more instrumentalized, so its existential dimension is fast being hollowed out. Technology is threatening the agency of the warrior and this volume paints a picture of early twenty-first century warfare, helping to explain why so many aspiring warriors are becoming disenchanted with their profession.

Written by a leading thinker on warfare, this book sets out to explain what makes an American Marine a 'warrior' and why suicide bombers, or Al Qaeda fighters, do not qualify for this title. This distinction is one of the central features of the current War on Terror - and one that justifies much more extensive discussion than it has so far received.

The Warrior Ethos will be of great interest to all students of military history, strategy, military sociology and war studies.

Four years before the outbreak of the First World War, Alfred Thayer Mahan, the world famous naval historian and strategist, warned of the approaching conflict in The Interest of America in International Conditions. Mahan's geo-historical approach compared Imperial Germany's early twentieth-century quest for hegemony to previous attempts by Napoleon's France, Louis XIV's France, and the Austrian and Spanish Hapsburgs to upset the European balance of power. Each previous bid for hegemony brought forth a coalition of powers that restored the balance of power. Mahan foresaw in the early twentieth century that a new coalition of powers, including Britain, France, Russia, and the United States, would be needed to prevent German domination of the continent.

Conflict is central to human history. It is often the cause, course and consequence of social, cultural and political change. Military history therefore has to be more than a technical analysis of armed conflict. War in the Modern World since 1815 addresses war as a cultural phenomenon, discusses its meaning in different socities and explores the various contexts of military action.

The fear that a conflict will spread is often used as a justification for "peacekeeping" operations. But why and under what conditions is war likely to widen? When are concerns warranted and justified? This book answers these important policy questions.
The book offers a theoretical explanation for war widening based on the decisiveness of warfare in a given era. It argues that conflicts are most likely to spread when the effects of warfare are limited, as states seek limited gains with a low cost. In an era where warfare is decisive, in other words, an era of total war, wars are less likely to widen. By understanding whether a war occurs in an era of total war or limited war, we can then assess how likely that conflict is to spread.
The explanation of war widening is developed through four historical cases: The Seven Years War, the French Revolution/Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War and World War I. These cases capture both eras of limited war, total war and the transition between them. Finally the author looks to the future, to foresee what developments might limit the costs of warfare and make future conflicts likely to spread.

Describes the application of research to the evolution of weapons. It shows how natural, engineering, information and environmental sciences are exploited how even social science is applied to recruitment, battlefield and logistical management, and careful preparation of terroristic acts.

Military forces are now confronted, not only with the non-conventional threats of terrorism but the moral dilemmas of humanitarianism, intervention and human rights. Gwyn Prins explores these conflicting impulses using a variety of fascinating examples: the September 11th attacks and the history of 'spectacular' terrorism, humanitarian intervention in Bosnia, Kosovo, West Africa and elsewhere, the extradition of General Pinochet for human rights abuses and the nuclear issue, in the light of ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan.
Wide-ranging and challenging, this book will interest all those seeking to understand the enormous recent changes in military strategy and global politics.

Military forces are now confronted, not only with the non-conventional threats of terrorism but the moral dilemmas of humanitarianism, intervention and human rights. Gwyn Prins explores these conflicting impulses using a variety of fascinating examples: the September 11th attacks and the history of 'spectacular' terrorism, humanitarian intervention in Bosnia, Kosovo, West Africa and elsewhere, the extradition of General Pinochet for human rights abuses and the nuclear issue, in the light of ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan.
Wide-ranging and challenging, this book will interest all those seeking to understand the enormous recent changes in military strategy and global politics.

Social Construction of Man, the State, and War is the first book on conflict in the former Yugoslavia to look seriously at the issue of ethnic identity, rather than treating it as a given, an unquestionable variable. Combining detailed analysis with a close reading of historical narratives, documentary evidence, and first-hand interviews conducted in the former Yugoslavia, Wilmer sheds new light on how ethnic identity is constructed, and what that means for the future of peace and sovereignty throughout the world.

Social Construction of Man, the State, and War is the first book on conflict in the former Yugoslavia to look seriously at the issue of ethnic identity, rather than treating it as a given, an unquestionable variable. Combining detailed analysis with a close reading of historical narratives, documentary evidence, and first-hand interviews conducted in the former Yugoslavia, Wilmer sheds new light on how ethnic identity is constructed, and what that means for the future of peace and sovereignty throughout the world.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203800842

Become a Better Martial Artist by Applying Lessons from the World's Greatest Military Strategists from Sun Tzu to Von Clausewitz Lessons in the Art of War investigates the theories and philosophies of the most prominent military thinkers in Asia and Europe and examines the combat roots of a variety of fighting styles from traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean martial arts to the fighting arts of the ancient Greeks and modern Israelis. It also demonstrates how the martial arts, whether Asian or Western in origin, were historically about brutal fighting, often to the death, and how ancient attitudes and beliefs can be adapted for success in today's MMA steel cage, judo or karate tournament as they were in ancient armies. Including an introduction to Asian and Western military thought, chapters include: The Nature and Conduct of Combat What is Combat? Preparing for Battle Elements of Tactics and Strategy Imposing Your Will Destroying the Enemy Force Strength of the Defensive Position Failure Moral Quality of Courage Securing Victory

Traces the relations between the organization of violence and social and political order from ancient Rome to early modern Europe. It studies the ways in which authority, obedience and forms of self-conduct were produced by the micro-techniques used to govern violence deployed in different forms of warfare. These issues comprise problematics of military power that are largely neglected by historical sociology and political history. The author shows that the constitution of military power and its relation to wider society has undergone a series of radical, discontinuous and contested shifts in the course of European history, rather than following a pattern of progressive abstraction of violence from society. The text argues that modern presumptions of an ahistorical dichotomy between military and civil society mat thus distort our understanding of the past and perhaps also of the future.

Most studies of Asia-Pacific security are marked by pessimism and continuing belief in the virtues of a balance of power. Pacific Asia? goes against the grain by pointing to a number of positive developments especially economic in regional relationships, the absence of an arms race, the growth of multilateral groups, and an emerging consensus on the importance of nonmilitary paths to national security. Above all, Mel Gurtov stresses a definition of security that focuses on basic human needs, social justice, and environmental protection. The author disagrees with proponents of a China threat, criticizes U.S. Cold War notions of security through forward-based power, and argues for new efforts at regional dialogue based on multilateral cooperation, sensitivity to Asian nationalism, and a role for Japan as a 'global civilian power.'

In its attempt to humanise modernity, the West is also trying to humanise war. It is trying to purge it of those features such as waste and cruelty which writers such as Clausewitz believed to be intrinsic to its true nature. The decision, as in Kosovo, to fight 'humanitarian wars' is one illustration of this trend but so too is our wish to use technology to make it more humane, and the extent to which humanism has displaced metaphysics in defining the ethical relationship between war and the warrior. This book asks whether the attempt can succeed or whether the West is deluding itself (not its enemies) in thinking that war can ever be made humane. Christopher Coker's radical conclusion is that Western humanitarian warfare is in fact an endgame, as other non-Western societies will make sure it does not succeed. Eminently readable, this book combines theory with accounts by politicians and serving military personnel.

Series Information:
Themes in World History

During the Medieval period, the Middle East was a battleground in which the Umayyad and the Abbasids Caliphs fought for dominance of an empire that stretched from Spain to the borders of India. The Armies of the Caliphs is the first major study of the relationship between army and society in the early Islamic period, and reveals the pivotal role of the military in politics.
Through an examination of recruitment, payment, weaponry and fortifications in the armies, The Armies of the Caliphs offers the most comprehensive view to date of how the early Muslim Empire grew to control so many people. Using Arabic chronicles, surviving documents, and archaeological evidence, this book analyses the military and the face of battle, and offers a timely reassessment of the early Islamic State.

During the Medieval period, the Middle East was a battleground in which the Umayyad and the Abbasids Caliphs fought for dominance of an empire that stretched from Spain to the borders of India. The Armies of the Caliphs is the first major study of the relationship between army and society in the early Islamic period, and reveals the pivotal role of the military in politics.
Through an examination of recruitment, payment, weaponry and fortifications in the armies, The Armies of the Caliphs offers the most comprehensive view to date of how the early Muslim Empire grew to control so many people. Using Arabic chronicles, surviving documents, and archaeological evidence, this book analyses the military and the face of battle, and offers a timely reassessment of the early Islamic State.

Distinguished scholars, policymakers, and journalists compare the effects of prolonged war on ancient Athens during the war with Sparta, and on the United States and the two Koreas, North and South, during the Korean War. Despite the very different circumstances of the two conflicts and the radically different way that each was viewed in its own time, the contributors point to many underlying similarities between the two wars.

Contrary to popular misconceptions and public branding as "dirty tricks," covert action and counterintelligence can have considerable value. Democracies, while wary of these instruments, have benefited significantly from their use, saving lives, treasure, and gaining strategic advantage. As liberal democracies confront the post-Cold War mix of rogue states and non-state actors, such as criminals and terrorists, and weapons of mass destruction and mass disruption, these clandestine arts may prove to be important tools of statecraft, and perhaps trump cards in the twenty-first century.

Godson defines covert action as influencing events in other parts of the world without attribution, and counterintelligence as identifying, neutralizing, and exploiting the secret activities of others. Together they provide the capability to resist manipulation and control others to advantage. Counterintelligence protects U.S. military, technological, and diplomatic secrets and turns adversary intelligence to U.S. advantage. Covert action enables the United States to weaken adversaries and to assist allies who may be hampered by open acknowledgment of foreign support.

Drawing on contemporary and historical literature, broad-ranging contacts with senior intelligence officials in many countries, as well as his own research and experience as a longtime consultant to the U.S. government, Godson traces the history of U.S. covert action and counterintelligence since 1945, showing that covert action works well when it is part of a well-coordinated policy and when policy makers are committed to succeeding in the long-term. Godson argues that the best counterintelligence is an offensive defense. His exposition of the essential theoretical foundations of both covert action and counterintelligence, supported by historical examples, lays out the ideal conditions for their use, as well as demonstrating why they are so difficult to attain.

This book will be of interest to students and general readers interested in political science, national security, foreign policy, and military policy.

The late historian Marilyn B. Young, a preeminent voice on the history of U.S. military conflict, spent her career reassessing the nature of American global power, its influence on domestic culture and politics, and the consequences felt by those on the receiving end of U.S. military force. At the center of her inquiries was a seeming paradox: How can the United States stay continually at war, yet Americans pay so little attention to this militarism? Making the Forever War brings Young's articles and essays on American war together for the first time, including never before published works. Moving from the first years of the Cold War to Korea, Vietnam, and more recent 'forever' wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Young reveals the ways in which war became ever-present, yet more covert and abstract, particularly as aerial bombings and faceless drone strikes have attained greater strategic value. For Young, U.S. empire persisted because of, not despite, the inattention of most Americans. The collection concludes with an afterword by prominent military historian Andrew Bacevich.

The suppression of war has been the primary objective of the United Nations for almost fifty years, and stopping a war before it starts is easier than ending a war already underway. History, however, has shown that military interventions and economic sanctions often do more harm than good. In "Preventive Diplomacy," Nobel prize winners, top officials, and revered thinkers tackle these issues and explore the process of conflict prevention from humanitarian, economic, and political perspectives. This cross-disciplinary reader on global politics demonstrates that when new insights and methodologies on public health are applied to the handling of international disasters, the change in policy perspective is intriguing--even hopeful.