Culture, Conflict, and Counterinsurgency

Front Cover
Thomas H. Johnson, Barry Zellen
Stanford University Press, Jan 22, 2014 - Political Science - 304 pages

The authors of Culture, Conflict and Counterinsurgency contend that an enduring victory can still be achieved in Afghanistan. However, to secure it we must better understand the cultural foundations of the continuing conflicts that rage across Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, and shift our strategy from an attritional engagement to a smarter war plan that embraces these cultural dimensions.

They examine the nexus of culture, conflict, and strategic intervention, and attempt to establish if culture is important in a national security and foreign policy context, and to explore how cultural phenomena and information can best be used by the military. In the process they address just how intimate cultural knowledge needs to be to counter an insurgency effectively.

Finally, they establish exactly how good we've been at building and utilizing cultural understanding in Afghanistan, what the operational impact of that understanding has been, and where we must improve to maximize our use of cultural knowledge in preparing for and engaging in future conflicts.

 

Contents

Introduction
1
Culture and Conflict From Theory to Methodology
17
Culture and Conflict From Methodology to Practice Lessons from Afghanistan
93
Bibliography
259
Index
271
Copyright

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Culture, Conflict, and Counterinsurgency
Thomas Johnson,Barry Zellen
No preview available - 2014

Common terms and phrases

Afghan government Afghan National Army Afghan security forces Afghanistan al-Qaeda analysis assessment attacks authority battalion battle space Coalition Forces collection commander conducted conflict context counterinsurgency cultural data cultural intelligence cultural knowledge data fusion district governor district level Durand Line Durrani effective enemy enemy-centric ETHINT ethnographic example FATA focus Gavriel geospatial ghanistan Ghaziabad Ghilzai Ibid ibn Khaldun important individual information operations insurgency interaction interviews Iraq Islam issue Kabul Kandahar Khan Khost Province kill-capture leaders leadership major maneuver company methodologies military mullahs Muslim Naray National Security Naval Postgraduate School Nuristani ofthe operating environment Pakistan Pashtun Pashtunistan Pashtunwali pattern percent political population population-centric provincial reconstruction team region relational relationship religious figures role rural social soldiers southern Afghanistan squadron stan strategy structure Sufi Sufism Tablighi Tablighi Jamaat Taliban tion traditional tribal areas tribes ulema unit village elders

About the author (2014)

Thomas H. Johnson is Research Professor in the National Security Affairs Department of the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Director of the Program for Culture & Conflict Studies, and a Senior Research Associate in the NPS Center for Contemporary Conflict. Barry Scott Zellen is an author, editor, and theorist specializing in tribal issues. His books include The Art of War in an Asymmetric World: Strategy for the Post-Cold War World and Breaking the Ice: From Land Claims to Tribal Sovereignty in the Arctic. He is a Senior Fellow of the Anchorage-based Institute of the North.

Bibliographic information

TitleCulture, Conflict, and Counterinsurgency
EditorsThomas H. Johnson, Barry Zellen
Editionreprint
PublisherStanford University Press, 2014
ISBN0804789215, 9780804789219
Length304 pages
Subjects › 

Political Science / Terrorism
  
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