Contemporary War: Change and Continuity

(PLIT100852013)

School of Social and Political Science

University of Edinburgh

COURSE GUIDE
Semester One 2013-14

Course Convenor
Dr. Colin Fleming

Aims and Objectives

The course provides students with the theoretical and conceptual foundation to understand change and
continuity in contemporary conflict, and acts as a platform to think about the place and role of war in
the modern security environment. Exploring the ongoing debates regarding the changing nature and
character of war, the course balances analysis of these debates with comprehension of how these
translate to the practical use of military force in the modern world. The course critically engages with
contemporary debates and requires students to assess and explore this discourse in relation to
traditional approaches to strategic and security studies.

Learning objectives
Students should gain:
1.

A balanced and comprehensive appreciation of the complex character of modern

strategic/security studies, with particular emphasis on the core strands of the changing
character of war debate in the Post-Cold War era.

2.

A theoretical foundation with which to understand change and continuity in war.

3.

Detailed insight into the theoretical, historical, and contemporary experience of war and
strategy.

4.

Appreciation of the sources of political/social/technological change and their impact on war.

Course Staff
Dr. Colin Fleming (Course Convenor)
Room 2.13 (CMB)
Colin.Fleming@ed.ac.uk
Dr. Claire Duncanson
Room 3.02 (CMB)
c.p.duncanson@ed.ac.uk
2

Teaching Arrangements
Please note that Weeks 5 and 10 are a Practitioners Master Classes. On week 5 Mr David
Pratt, Senior Foreign Correspondent for the Herald will give a talk about the role of the media in
contemporary conflict. In week 8, Mr Andrew Kain CEO of AKE Ltd, will give a lecture on
the role of Private Military and Security Companies and their role in modern conflict. These
classes will take place on Wednesday 15th October and Wednesday 6th November, Lecture
Theatre 3, 7 Bristo Square: 1300-1500
Lectures
Lecture: G.07 Meadows LT (Tue 1110-1200)

Tutorial Times
Tutorial 1: Seminar Room 2.06 in Appleton Tower on Tuesdays 1310-1400
Tutorial 2: Room 4.18 in David Hume Tower on Tuesdays 1410-1500
Tutorial 3: Room 1.20, Dugald Stewart Building on Tuesdays 1510-1600
Please sign up to one of these on Learn.
Course Outline
WEEK

DATE

Topics

17th Sept

Introduction What is War?

24th Sept

The Changing Nature of War

1st

Great War Thinkers

8th Oct

The Revolution in Military Affairs

16th Oct

Master Class on War and the Media (DP) Lecture Theatre 3, 7 Bristo
Square: 1300-1500

22rd Oct

Reading Week

29th Oct

Asymmetric/Irregular War

5th Nov

Counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan

13th Nov

Master Class on Private Military and Security Companies (AK). Lecture

Theatre 3, 7 Bristo Square: 1300-1500

10

20th Nov

Victory, Defeat and the Nature of War

11

26th Nov

Future War

Oct

Seminars
Students will present on topics for the class. This will take the form of a formal presentation and
roundtable discussion and debate.
Assessment
This course is assessed by two essays of 2500 words (100% final mark).
The following are the criteria through which the [Essay/Literature Review/Policy Brief, etc] will be
marked. However, it is important to note that the overall mark is a result of a holistic assessment of the
assignment as a whole.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

Does the assignment address the question set, and with sufficient focus?
Does the assignment show a grasp of the relevant concepts and knowledge?
Does the assignment demonstrate a logical and effective pattern of argument?
Does the assignment, if appropriate, support arguments with relevant, accurate and effective forms
of evidence?
Does the assignment demonstrate reflexivity and critical thinking in relation to arguments and
evidence?
Is the assignment adequately presented in terms of: correct referencing and quoting; spelling,
grammar and style; layout and visual presentation?

Please see the Honours Handbook for further information on submission of coursework; Late
Penalty Waivers; plagiarism; learning disabilities, special circumstances; common marking
descriptors, re-marking procedures and appeals.
Essays Deadlines
The deadline for essay 1 is Friday 18 th of October 12 noon. The deadline for the final essay is 12
noon on Friday 29th November.
Essay Questions
1. Critically asses the claim by the new war thinkers that the nature of war has been transformed
in the post-Cold War era.
2. Picking two of the Great Thinkers, critically assess their influence on our understanding of war.
3. To what extent has the RMA transformed the way in which war is fought?
4. Clausewitzs famous claim that war is the continuation of politics is as valid today as it was
in 19th Century Prussia. Discuss.
5. Is it possible to have security without development? Discuss in relation to the British
experience of counter-insurgency warfare in Afghanistan.
6. To what extent has our understanding of victory altered as a consequence of the changing
character of war?
7. Critically assess the idea that mediatization has led to an era of diffused war.
8. What is War?

Recommended Reading:
There is no one book used in the course, however, students might find the below book a useful starting
point to the subject.
John Balyis, James J Wirtz, Colin S Gray (ed.) Strategy in the Contemporary World; an
introduction to Strategic Studies, 3rd Edition (Oxford, OUP, 2010)

Course Topics and Readings

Week 1. Introduction - What is War?

The initial lecture introduces students to the micro-foundations of the subject by exploring the very
idea of war itself. What is war? Can and how do we define war? Does the modern era require us to
examine our definition of war?
Carl von Clausewitz, On War. Edited and Translated by Michael Howard and Peter Paret,
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984) (Book 1, Chapter 1).
John Balyis, James J Wirtz, Colin S Gray (ed.) Strategy in the Contemporary World; an
introduction to Strategic Studies, 3rd Edition (Oxford, OUP, 2010), Chapter 1.
Smith, Rupert, The Utility Of Force, The Art Of War In The Modern World (London, Penguin
Group, 2005), pp 29-63, 267- 305.
J. Coates, The Ethics of War (Manchester; Manchester University Press, 1997), chapter. 5
Uppsala Conflict Data Program Definitions: http://www.pcr.uu.se/research/ucdp/definitions/

Uppsala
Conflict
Data
Program
http://www.pcr.uu.se/research/ucdp/faq/

Frequently

Asked

Questions

Correlates
of
War
http://www.correlatesofwar.org/COW2%20Data/WarData_NEW/COW%20Website%20%20Typology%20of%20war.pdf

M. L. R. Smith, Guerrillas in the mist: reassessing strategy and low intensity warfare,
Review of International Studies, Vol, 29, No. 1, (2003), 19-37.
Waltz, Kenneth N (1954) Man the State and War: a theoretical analysis (New York:
Columbia University Press, 2001). read introduction
Hew

Strachan,
The Changing Character of War, EVROPAEVM.
www.Europaevm.org/files/publications/pamphlets/HewStrachan.pdf

2006.

Week 2. The Changing Nature of War: Old Wars, New Wars, or Risk Wars?
Explores the key debates regarding the changing character (and possibly nature) of war in the PostCold War era. By critically engaging with the new war discourse of the 1990s, it traces the emergence
of the new war idea and its ostensible continuation in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Martin Van Creveld, The Transformation of War. New York: The Free Press, 1991, ix-x, 3349, 49-62.
Mary Kaldor, New & Old Wars (1st . ed. 1999). London: Polity, 2006, vii-xi, 1-14, 150-177.
Herfried Mnkler, The New Wars (1st . ed. 2002). London: Polity, 2005, 1-4, 5-31, 32-50.
Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen, The Risk Society at War: Terror, Technology and Strategy in the
Twenty-First Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 1-11, 12-42.
Colin M. Fleming, Old or New Wars? Debating a Clausewitzian Future, The Journal of
Strategic Studies, Vol 32, No. 2 (April, 2009), 213-241.
Recommended Readings
Edward Newman, The New Wars Debate: A Historical Perspective is Needed, Security
Dialogue, Vol. 35, N. 2, (2004), 173-189.
Christopher Coker, War in an Age of Risk (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2009), 1-27, 62-102
Colin Gray, Another Bloody Century (London; Weidnfeld & Nicholson, 2005), Smith, Rupert,
The Utility Of Force, The Art Of War In The Modern World (London, Penguin Group,
2005). Chapter 4
Stathis N Kalyvas, New And Old Civil Wars: A Valid Distinction? World Politics, 54: 1
(October, 2001), 99-118.
M Berdal, How New are the New Wars? Global Economic Change and the Study of Civil
War, Global Governance, 9(4), 2003
Christopher Daase, Clausewitz and Small Wars, in Hew Strachan and Andreas HerbergRothe (ed.), Clausewitz in the Twenty-First Century (Oxford: Oxford University
Press), 183-195.
Kinross, Stuart, Clausewitz and Low-Intensity Conflict, The Journal of Strategic Studies,
Vol, 27, No. 1, (March, 2004), 35-58.
Martin Shaw, The New Western Way of War (London: Polity Press, 2005).
Lacina, Bethany, Civil Conflict after the Cold War, Security Dialogue, 35: 2, (2004), 191205.
Paul Collier, Doing Well out of War: An Economic Perspective, in Mats Berdal and David,
M Malone, Greed and Grievance: Economic Agendas in Civil Wars (Boulder: Lynne
Rienner Publisher, 2000), 91-112.
6

Keen, David, The Economic Functions of Violence in Civil Wars, Adelphi Paper, 320,
(London: International Institute of Strategic Studies.1998)
Week 3. Great War Thinkers: Thucydides, Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, Jomini, and Clausewitz
Building on the preceding week, the lecture and seminar assess the influence of the Great strategic
thinkers. What is their contribution to our understanding to conflict? Do these theorists share common
ground? What is their role when analysing war today?
Carl von Clausewitz, On War. Edited and Translated by Michael Howard and Peter Paret,
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984) (Book 1, Chapter 1)
Colin M Fleming, Clausewitzs Timeless Trinity (Ashgate 2013), chapters 1 & 2
Sun Tzu, The Art of War; foreword by James Clavell (Mobius, 1981)
Robert D Kaplan, Warrior Politics (New York, Random House, 2002), chapters 4 & 5
Felix Guilbert, Machiavelli: Reinassiance of the art of war, in Peter Paret, (ed.), Makers of
Modern Strategy, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986), 11-31
John Shy, Jomini, in Peter Paret (ed.) Makers of Modern Strategy, (Princeton; Princeton
University Press, 1986), 143-185.
Michael I Handel, Masters of War, third edition (London: Frank Cass, 2001). Handels book
examines the ideas of the great theorist of war. This is essential reading and
highlights the similarities between these thinkers.
Christopher
Bassford,
Jomini
and
Clausewitz:
www.clausewitz.com/readings/Readings.shtml

Their

interaction

(1993);

Recommended Readings
Baylis, J. et. Al, Strategy in the Contemporary World, Third Edition. (Oxford; OUP, 2010),
Chapter 3
Colin Gray, Modern Strategy (Oxford, OUP; 1999), chapters 3 & 4
Peter Paret, Clausewitz, in Peter Paret (ed.) Makers of Modern Strategy, (Princeton;
Princeton University Press, 1986), 186-213.
W. B. Gallie, Philosophers of Peace and War: Kant, Clausewitz, Marx Engels and Tolstoy
(Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1978).
John J Weltman, World Politics and the Evolution of War (John Hopkins University Press;
1995), chapter 4
Jomini, Antoine Henri de, (1862) The Art of War, edited with an introduction by Charles
Messenger (London: Greenhill Books, 1992).

Gat, Azar, A History of Military Thought: From the Enlightenment to the Cold War (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2001). Book 1, chapters 1, 2, 7 & 8
Week 4: The Revolution in Military Affairs 1990 - present
Although technological change has always influenced war, it has been claimed that technological
innovation represented by the American RMA has (or is) transforming the nature and character of
conflict. Introducing students to the concept of the RMA, the lecture and seminar explore the latest
American RMA over the last twenty years: it examines the changing use of technology, from precision
guided weapons, to the new robotics revolution.
Eliot Cohen, Technology and Warfare, in Baylis et al, Strategy in the Contemporary World,
Third Edition (Oxford; OUP, 2010) 141-157
Martin Van Creveld, Technology and War, from 2000 B.C. to the Present (New York: The
Free Press), 1-6, 311-320.
Max Boot, War Made New. Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today.
(New York: Gotham Books, 2006), 307-317, 352-384.
P. W. Singer, Wired For War. The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21 st Century (New
York: The Penguin Press, 2009), 19-42, 179-204
Knox, MacGregor & Murray, Williamson, Thinking about revolutions in warfare, in
MacGregor Know & Williamson Murray (ed), The Dynamics of Military Revolution,
1300-2050 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), 1-14. (However, the full
edition is extremely useful)
Brigadier Gen Itai Brun, While Youre Busy Making Other Plans The Other RMA, The
Journal of Strategic Studies, Vol 33, No. 4 (August 2010), 535-565
Recommended Readings
Colin Gray, Another Bloody Century (London; Weidnfeld & Nicholson, 2005), 98 -130.
Stephen D. Biddle, Speed Kills? Reassessing the Role of Speed, Precision, and Situation
Awareness in the Fall of Saddam, The Journal of Strategic Studies, 30 (1) (February
2007), 3-46.
Dima Adamsky & Kjell Inge Bjerga, Introduction to the Information-Technology Revolution
in Military Affairs, The Journal of Strategic Studies, Vol 33, No. 4 (August 2010),
463-468
Stephen Biddle, Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare, Foreign Affairs 82 (2)
(March/April 2003), 31-46.
Stephen D. Biddle, Allies, Airpower, and Modern Warfare. The Afghan Model in
Afghanistan and Iraq, International Security, 30 (3) (Winter 2005-06), 161-176.
Donald H. Rumsfeld, Transforming the Military, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 81, N. 3 (May-June
2002), 20-32.
8

Jacqueline Newmyer, The Revolution in Military Affairs with Chinese Characteristics, The
Journal of Strategic Studies, Vol 33, No. 4 (August 2010), 483-504
Richard Andres, et. al., Winning with Allies. The Strategic Values of the Afghan Model,
International Security, 30 (3) (Winter 2005-06), 124-160.
Weng Loo, Bernard Fook, Decisive Battle, Victory and the Revolution in Military Affairs,
Journal of Strategic Studies, Vol, 32, No. 4 (April 2009), 189-212
Echevarria II, Antulio, J, War and Politics: The Revolution in Military Affairs and the
Continued Relevance of Clausewitz, Joint Forces Quarterly (Winter, 1995), 76-82.
Coker, Christopher, The Future of War (Oxford: Blackwell, 2004).
William H. McNeill, The Pursuit of Power. Technology, Armed Force, and Society since A.
D. 1000 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1982)
Steven Metz, A Wake for Clausewitz: Toward a Philosophy of 21 st Century Warfare
Parameters, (Winter, 1994-1995).
Week 5. War and the Media
Master Class on the relationship between War and Media by Mr David Pratt, Senior Foreign Editor at the
Herald
David Pratt, Foreign Editor, Sunday Herald
David is a journalist and editor with over twenty five years experience of covering foreign affairs. Specialist
areas include the Arab and Islamic world, sub-Saharan Africa, conflict, security, intelligence and humanitarian
issues. As a writer, photographer, filmmaker and broadcaster, clients over a lengthy career have included
Sunday Herald / The Herald, The Scotsman, Sunday Times, The Independent, Daily Telegraph, The New York
Times,

BBC,

ITN,

Channel

News,

Reuters,

Agence

France

Presse,

Al-Jazeera,

NBC.

Major international stories covered include: Soviet War in Afghanistan, rise of the Taliban and current conflict
(1980-2012), the Contra war in Nicaragua and civil war in El Salvador (1985-87), first and second Palestinian
uprisings (Intifada) 1987-2000, First Gulf War from both Israel and Northern Iraq (1991), War in the former
Yugoslavia including Kosovo (1990s), Second Liberian Civil War (1999-2003), Coup d etat in Haiti (2004),
Somalia Civil War (2005-2006), South Asia Earthquake Kashmir/Pakistan ( 2005), Lebanon War (2006),
Democratic Republic of Congo First British TV Interview with Congolese rebel leader Laurent Nkunda (2008),
Russo-Georgian War (2008), Earthquake in Haiti (2010), War in Iraq (2003-2010), Arab Spring uprisings
Egypt, Libya, Syria (2011-).
Suggested Reading
Simon Cottle, Mediatized Conflict (Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2006), chapters 1 & 5
Andrew Hoskins & Ben OLoughlin, War And Media: The Emergence of Diffused War (Cambridge:
CUP, 2010), chapters 1 & 4
Andrew Hoskins, Televising War: From Vietnam to Iraq (London: Continuum, 2004), 1-9, 45-76

Piers Robinson, The CNN Effect: the Myth of news foreign policy and Intervention (London:
Routledge, 2002), chapters 1 & 3
Milena Michalski & James Gow, War, Image and Legitimacy: Viewing Contemporary Conflict
(Routledge: London, 2007), chapter 1 & 5
Recommended Readings
David Welch, Winning Hearts and Minds: The Changing Context of Reportage and Propaganda, 1990
2003, in Mark Connelly & David Welch (ed.) War and the media: reportage and propaganda
1900 -2003 (London: I. B. Tauris, 2005), xi
Philip Seib, The Al-jazeera Effect: How the New Global Media are Reshaping War (Basingstoke;
Palgrave, 2008).
Susan Carruthers, Missing in Autheticity? Media War in the Digital Age, in Mark Connelly & David
Welch (ed.) War and the media: reportage and propaganda 1900 -2003 (London: I. B. Tauris,
2005), 236 - 250
Sarah Maltby, Communicating War: Strategies and Implications, in Sarah Maltby & Richard Keeble
(ed.) Communicating War: Memory, Media and Military ((Bury st Edmonds: Arima Publishing,
2007), 1-17
Marvin Kalb and Carol Saivetz, The Israeli-Hezbollah War of 2006: The Media as a Weapon in
Asymmetric Conflict, The Harvard International Journal of Press/politics (2007), 43-66
E. Gilboa, The CNN Effect: The Search for a Communication Theory of International Relations,
Political Communication, Vol 22 (2005), 27-44
Dominic Johnson & Domind Tierney, Failing to Win: Perceptions of Victory and Defeat in International
Politics (Harvard University Press, 2006), chapters 3 & 6
David Culbert, American Television Coverage of the Vietnam War: The Loan Execution Footage, the
Tet Offensive (1968) and the Contetualization of Visual, in Mark Connelly & David Welch (ed.)
War and the media: reportage and propaganda 1900 -2003 (London: I. B. Tauris, 2005), 204 213
Richard Keeble, The Necessary Spectacular Victories: New Militarism, the Mainstream Media and
the Manufacture of the Two Gulf Conflicts 1991 and 2003, in Sarah Maltby & Richard Keeble
(ed.) Communicating War: Memory, Media and Military (Bury st Edmonds: Arima Publishing,
2007), 200-212
James Der Darian, Virtuous War: Mapping The Military industrial-media-entertainment Network
(Boulder: Westview Press ) Chapters 6-12
Steve Tatham, Losing Arab Hearts and Minds: The Coalition, Al Jazeera and Muslim Public Opinion
(Hurst and Co; London, 2006), chapters 5 & 6
Kenneth Payne, The Media as an Instrument of War, Parameters (Spring 2005), 81-93
Susan Carruthers, The Media at War: Communication and conflict in the Twentieth Century
(Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2000)

Week 6. Asymmetric (irregular) War

Set against the new war and RMA debates, week 6 introduces the concept of asymmetric war. Students
are expected to draw on the experience of the course and critically engage with the notion of change
10

and continuity. The lecture places asymmetry in historical context, and uses case study analysis to
further explore the topic.
Colin S. Gray, Another Bloody Century (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005), Chapters 5
&6
Lawrence Freedman, The Transformation of Strategic Affairs, Adelphi Paper, Issue, 37 9,
(Oxford University Press, 2006).
Andrew Mack, Why Big Nations Lose Small Wars: The Politics of Asymmetric Conflict,
World Politics, Vol, 27 No. 2, (January, 1975), 175-200.
Ivan Arrguin-Toft, How the Weak Win Wars: A Theory of Asymmetric Conflict,
International Security, Vol, 26 No. 1, (Summer 2001), 93-128.
T. V. Paul, Asymetric Conflicts: War Initiation by Weaker Powers (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1994), 3-40
Frank G. Hoffman, Hybrid Threats: Reconceptualizing the evolving character of modern
conflict, Strategic Forum, 240 (2009), 1-8.
Recommended Reading
Rod Thornton, Asymmetric Warfare (Polity Press, Cambridge, 2007), 1-25
Mao Tse-tung, on Guerrilla Warfare, translated by Brig.-Gen. Samuel B Griffith (1961),
(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000). (Very strongly recommended)
James D. Kiras, Irregular War, in David Jordan & James D. Kiras (ed.), Understanding
Modern Warfare (Cambridge; CUP, 2008), 224-291
David Kilcullen, The Accidental Guerrilla. Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One.
(London: Hurst, 2009).
Ahmed S. Hashim, Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in Iraq. Ithaca, NY: Cornell
University Press, 2006, 125-170, 188-213.
Dominic Johnson & Domind Tierney, Failing to Win: Perceptions of Victory and Defeat in
International Politics (Harvard University Press, 2006), chapters 2 & 3
Stephen Biddle & Jeffrey A. Friedman, The 2006 Lebanon Campaign And The Future of
Warfare: Implications for Army and Defence Policy (2008). Strongly recommended
Antonio Giustozzi, Koran, Kalashnikov and Laptop: The Neo-Taliban Insurgency in
Afghanistan (London: Hurst and Co, 2007), chapters 4 & 5.
Week 7. Counterinsurgency (Claire Duncanson)
Week 8 examines the theory and practice in COIN, and focuses in particular on the British Armys
experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. We will consider the extent to which these COIN operations offer
new challenges to the British military. We will also discuss the relationship between COIN and
statebuilding, the security-development nexus, and neo-imperialism.
11

M. J. Williams (2011). "Empire Lite Revisited: NATO, the Comprehensive Approach and
State-building in Afghanistan." International Peacekeeping Vol 18, No. 1, (2011), 6478.
Duffield, Mark, Global Governance and the New Wars: The Merging of Development and
Security (Zed Books, 2001) [ebook], espcially Chapter 2: the Merging of Development
and Security
Paris and Sisk (2007) The Dilemmas of Statebuilding, (Routledge, 2007), especially the
Introduction
Recommended Readings
Paris and Sisk (2007) The Dilemmas of Statebuilding, (Routledge, 2007), especially the
Introduction
Spear, Joanna, Counter-insurgency in Paul Williams, ed., Security Studies: An Introduction
(Routledge, 2008).
David Betz & Anthony Cormack, 'Iraq, Afghanistan and British Strategy', Orbis (Spring
2009), 319-336
P. Dixon, 'Hearts and Minds'? British Counter-Insurgency from Malaya to Iraq. Journal of
Strategic Studies, Vol 32, no. 3 (2009a), 353-381.
Roberts, Adam 'Doctrine and Reality in Afghanistan' Survival, 51: 1 (2009), 29-118. [and the
other articles in this special issue: The Struggle for Afghanistan']
S.

Griffin, "Iraq, Afghanistan and the future of British Military Doctrine: from
counterinsurgency to Stabilization." International Affairs, Vol 87, No. 2 (2011), 317333.

David Kilcullen, Counter-insurgency Redux, Survival, 48:4 (2006), 111 130

R, Egnell, "Lessons from Helmand, Afghanistan: what now for British counterinsurgency?"
International Affairs Vol, 87, No. 2 (2011), 207-315.
Fitzsimmons, M, "Hard Hearts and Open Minds? Governance, Identity and the Intellectual
Foundations of Counterinsurgency Strategy." The Journal of Strategic Studies, Vol,
31, No. 3 (2008), 337-365.
J Gilmore, "A kinder, gentler counter-terrorism: Counter-insurgency, human security and the
War on Terror." Security Dialogue, Vol 42, No.1 (2011), 21-37.
Mark Duffield, The Liberal Way of Development and the Development-Security Impasse:
Exploring the Global Life-Chance Divide Security Dialogue 41:1 (2010), 53-76
Mark Duffield & VM Hewitt (Eds.). Development and Colonialism: The Past in the Present,
(James Currey, 2009).
Mark Duffield, Development, security and unending war: governing the world of peoples
(Polity, 2007).
12

Jones,

Seth,
Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan (RAND,
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG595.html

2008).

Chapter

2.

Kilcullen, David, The accidental guerrilla: fighting small wars in the midst of a big one
(Oxford University Press, 2009).
Denney, Lisa, 'Reducing poverty with teargas and batons: The security-development nexus in
Sierra Leone', African Affairs, 110, 439 (2011), 275-294.
RAND COIN publications at http://www.rand.org/hot_topics/counterinsurgency/
Week 8. Master Class on Private Military and Security Companies with Andrew Kain (CEO of
AKE)
Andrew Kain is CEO of international security and risk mitigation company, AKE Ltd.
Andrew is a pioneer of the modern commercial private security industry founding AKE in 1991 to
provide specialist risk services based on SAS principles.
AKE remains a leader in its field and has
supported its clients from a diverse range of industry backgrounds, NGOs, IGOs and governments in
every conflict, disaster and reconstruction zone since its inception. October 2013 marks the 20 th
anniversary of the launch of AKEs Surviving Hostile Regions training course initially designed to
prepare journalists for work in hostile environments globally. Andrew is a champion of corporate
social responsibility and thanks to his vision and values, AKE stands out as an ethical organisation in
often difficult and controversial operating environments.
Andrews military experience stems from six years of service in the Parachute Regiment, and a further
11 years in the Special Air Service (SAS), during which he served throughout the world. His active
service experience includes taking part in the classic Special Forces raid on Pebble Island during the
Falklands campaign. As an instructor in the SAS, he worked with other government and international
law enforcement agencies, and developed specialist counter-terrorist techniques that are still in use
Andrew is the author of the SAS Security Handbook, published in 1996, and he has received a
testimonial from The Royal Humane Society for saving life.
In this (Practitioners) Master Class Andrew will talk about Private Military and Security Companies
and their diversity of roles in modern conflict and business
Further details on AKE can be found at their website: www.akegroup.com

Week 9. Victory, Defeat and the Nature of War?

William C. Martel, Victory in War: Foundations of Modern Military Policy (Cambridge
University Press, New York, 2007
Dominic D. P. Johnson and Dominic Tierney, Failing to Win: Perceptions of Victory and
Defeat in International Politics (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006)
Brian Bond, The Pursuit of Victory: From Napoleon to Saddam Hussein (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1996)
Jan Angstrom and Isabelle Duyvesteyn (ed.) Understanding Victory and Defeat in
13

Contemporary War (London; Routledge, 2007)

Andrew Mack, Why Big Nations Lose Small Wars: The Politics of Asymmetric Conflict,
World Politics, Vol, 27, No. 2 (January, 1975), 175-200
Ivan Arreguin-Totf, How the Weak Win Wars: A Theory of Asymmetric Conflict,
International Security, Vol. 26, No. 1 (Summer, 2001), 93-128.
Bernard Fook Weng Loo, Decisive Battle, Victory and the Revolution in Military Affairs,
The Journal of Strategic Studies, Vo. 32, No. 2, (April, 2009), 189-211
David A Lake, Powerful Pacifists: Democratic States and War, American Political Science
Review, Vol, 27, No. 1 (March, 1992); Dan Reiter and Allan C. Stam, Democracies at
War (Princeton; Princeton University Press, 2002).
Michael C. Desch, Democracy and Victory: Why Regime Type Hardly Matters, International
Security, Vol, 27, No. 2 (2002)
Recommended Readings: Iraq War: for case study
Richard B Andres, Craig wills, and Thomas Griffith Jr., Winning with Allies: The Strategic
Value of the Afghan Model, International Security, Vol. 30, No. 3 (Winter 2005/06),
124-160.
Nora Benshel Mission Not Accomplished: What Went Wrong with Iraqi Reconstruction, The
Journal of Strategic Studies, Vol, 29, No. 3, (June 2006), 453-473
Stephen D. Biddle, Allies, Airpower, and Modern Warfare: The Afghan Model in Afghanistan
and Iraq, International Security, Vol 30, No. 3 (Winter 2005-06), 161-176
Daniel Byman, An Autopsy of the Iraq Debacle: Policy Failure or Bridge Too Far?, Security
Studies, Vol 17 (2008), 599-643
Antulio Echevaria, Toward an American Way of War, Carlisle, P.A: Strategic Studies Institute.
(2004) 10
James Fallows, Declaring Victory, The Atlantic (September 2006)
www.theatlantic.com/doc/200609/fallows_victory

Week 101. Future War?

Our last week, we assess the theme of change and continuity in contemporary war.
Colin S. Gray, Another Bloody Century (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005),
Conclusion, 370-397
Tarak Barkawi & Shane Brighton, Conclusion: Absent War Studies? War, Knowledge, and
Critque, in Hew Strachan and Sibylle Scheipers (ed.) The Changing Character of War
(OUP 2011)
H. R. McMaster, Learning from Contemporary Conflicts to Prepare for Future War, Orbis,
Vol 52, No. 4 (2008), 564-584
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Recommended Readings
Columba Peoples, Strategic Studies and its Critics, in John Balyis, James J Wirtz, Colin S
Gray (ed.) Strategy in the Contemporary World; an introduction to Strategic Studies,
3rd Edition (Oxford, OUP, 2010), 354-371
Lawrence Freedman, Does Strategic Studies have a Future?, in John Balyis, James J Wirtz,
Colin S Gray (ed.) Strategy in the Contemporary World; an introduction to Strategic
Studies, 3rd Edition (Oxford, OUP, 2010), 391-409
Michael C Horowitz & Dan A Shalmon, The Future of War and American Military
Strategy, Orbis, Vol, 53, No. 2 (2009), 300-318
Macgregor Knox, Thinking War History Lite? Journal of Strategic Studies, Vol 34, No. 4
(2011), 489-500
Thomas G. Mahnken, The Evolution of Strategy... But what about Policy? Journal of
Strategic Studies, Vol 34, No. 4 (2011), 483-487
Hew Strachan, Strategy in the Twenty-first Century, in Hew Strachan and Sibylle Scheipers
(ed.) The Changing Character of War (OUP 2011)

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