American Image
armed
Armed Struggle
ARVN
ARVN Commander
asymmetric warfare theory
Avowed Constituency
Brigate Rosse
Category=NH
counterinsurgency strategies
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Hostage Rescue Team
insurgency case studies
IRA Army Council
IRA Bomb
IRA Volunteer
J. Bowyer Bell
Khmer Rouge
Low Intensity Conflict
Mad Dog Killers
MIT Student
National Defense University Press
NATO Airstrike
Petrie Dish
political violence analysis
psychological dynamics of armed conflict
revolutionary ecosystems
Rote Armee Fraktion
Secret Army
security studies research
South Vietnamese Army
struggle
Unconventional Missions
Unconventional War
United States Navy
Village Defender
Young Man
Product details
- ISBN 9781138509313
- Weight: 453g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 06 Feb 2018
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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For centuries international order has been troubled by small wars, insurrections, and revolts--low intensity conflicts. With the implosion of the Soviet empire many thought such violence could be eradicated through the growth of democracy, open societies, and increased productivity and education. Instead the world remains filled with turmoil, pogroms, famine, civil war, rebellion, and terror, often instigated by armed and dangerous zealots. To Americans such killers seem alien and inexplicable, fanatics without reason, beyond the reach of conventional containment or retaliation. J. Bowyer Bell here explores the psychological and strategic ecosystems (which he terms dragon worlds) of modern political violence and suggests how America might effectively deal with it.Dragonwars combines analysis with historical examples drawn from America's involvement with armed struggle in Lebanon, Central Am-erica, Greece, and Vietnam. In each instance, Bell argues, American policy was flawed by lack of empathy and historical understanding combined with a belief that failure could be traced to mistakes in details and procedures. The break up of the old bipolar U.S.-Soviet confrontation released suppressed ambitions, tribal greed, and greater flexibility for the small player. With new technologies of terror, zones of security will become smaller, since open societies present attractive targets for zealots. Bell rejects the notion that massive force can effect a swift and final result. Instead, a new type of warrior will be required; one versed in history and empathetic to the belief-systems of the dragonworlds in which they are deployed.Bell acknowledges that his proposals run counter to American belief and practice, but argues that in the face of insoluble conflicts, incremental advantages, through limited altered global arena, Dragonwars will prove an indispensable guide for policymakers, military planners, historians, and political scientists.
