The Accidental Guerrilla

A Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor to General David Petraeus, Kilcullen's vision of war dramatically influenced America's decision to rethink its military strategy in Iraq. Now, Kilcullen provides a remarkably fresh perspective on the War on Terror.

Analyzes four megatrends—population growth, urbanization, coastal life and connectedness-and concludes that future conflict is increasingly likely to occur in sprawling coastal cities; in underdeveloped regions of the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia; and in highly networked, connected settings, in a book that also looks at gangs, cartels and warlords.

David Kilcullen is one of the world’s most influential experts on counterinsurgency and modern warfare. A senior advisor to General David Petraeus in Iraq, his vision of war powerfully influenced America’s decision to rethink its military strategy in Iraq and implement ‘the Surge’, now recognised as a dramatic success. In Counterinsurgency, Kilcullen brings together his most salient writings on this key topic. At the heart of the book is his legendary ‘Twenty-Eight Articles’, in which he shows company leaders how to practise counterinsurgency in the real world, ‘at night, with the GPS down, the media criticizing you, the locals complaining in a language you don’t understand, and an unseen enemy killing your people by ones and twos’. Reading this piece is like reading a modern-day Sun Tzu — in such pithy adages as ‘Rank is nothing: talent is everything’ or ‘Train the squad leaders — then trust them’, Kilcullen offers advice that any leader would be wise to consider. The other pieces in this book include Kilcullen’s pioneering study of counterinsurgency in Indonesia, his ten-point plan for ‘the Surge’ in Iraq, and his frank look at the problems in Afghanistan. He concludes with a new strategic approach to the ‘War on Terror’, arguing that counterinsurgency rather than traditional counterterrorism may offer the best approach to defeating global jihad. Counterinsurgency is a picture of modern warfare by someone who has had his boots on the ground in some of today’s worst trouble spots — including Iraq and Afghanistan — and who has been studying the topic since 1995. Filled with down-to-earth, common-sense insights, this book is indispensable for all those who are interested in making sense of our world in an age of terror.

This book examines the concept of legitimacy as it may be used to explain the success, or failure, of key stability operations since the end of the Cold War. In the success of stability operations, legitimacy is key. In order to achieve success, the intervening force must create a sense of legitimacy of the mission among the various constituencies concerned with and involved in the venture. These parties include the people of the host nation, the host government (whose relations with the local people must be legitimate), political elites and the general public worldwide—including the intervening parties’ own domestic constituencies, who will sustain (or not sustain) the intervention by offering (or withdrawing) support. This book seeks to bring into close scrutiny the legitimacy of stability interventions in the post-Cold War era, by proposing a concept that captures both the multi-faceted nature of legitimacy and the process of legitimation that takes place in each case. Case studies on Liberia, Bosnia, Somalia, Rwanda, Afghanistan and Iraq explain how legitimacy related to the outcome of these operations. This book will be of much interest to students of stability operations, counterinsurgency, peace operations, humanitarian intervention, and IR/security studies in general.

In turbulent global times, your study of this subject is increasingly necessary and urgent. Featuring a new chapter on critical theories, and revised to take a less Eurocentric approach to concepts and case studies, this new edition allows you to tackle global politics' important concepts, debates and problems: -How can theories help us to understand the politics of a global pandemic? -Do we live in a 'post-truth' world of 'fake news' and disinformation? -Does international aid work? -Does the United States remain a global hegemon? -What is the Anthropocene and how does it shape global politics? -Are global politics constrained by a 'North-South' divide? -What are the possible futures of global politics – and the politics of outer space? Delving into topics as diverse as anarchy, intersectionality, Confucianism, and neoconservatism, boxed features give you confidence in political analysis: -Focus on: learn more about the global colour line or the tragedy of the commons -Key figures: discuss the ideas of Hans Morgenthau, Frantz Fanon or bell hooks -Debating: argue whether the United Nations are obsolete, or whether nuclear weapons promote peace -Global politics in action: apply your learning to the migration crisis in Europe or the Arab Spring -Approaches to: consider human rights or the Covid-19 pandemic from the perspective of realist, liberal, postcolonial, Marxist, feminist, constructivist and post-structuralist theory -Global actors: understand the significance of Black Lives Matter, Amnesty International or the International Monetary Fund. Spanning the development of global politics, from the early origins of globalization through to the return of multipolarity in the twenty-first century, this is an essential text for undergraduates studying global politics and international relations.