Is It Mainly Tactics?

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-37
Author(s):  
Omar Ashour
Keyword(s):  
Regime Type ◽  
Popular Support ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Military Tactics ◽  
Combat Effectiveness ◽  
External Power ◽  
The Military ◽  
Academic Study

This chapter introduces the puzzle of the military endurance and combat effectiveness of ISIS/IS, though outnumbered and outgunned by substantially stronger state and nonstate militaries. Beginning with the academic study of insurgency dating back to Lawrence, Mao, Templar, Lansdale, Guevara, Galula, Hoffman and more recent scholars; this book explores traditional factors associated with insurgency success, such as the support of an external power, popular support from the disaffected population, sanctuary, geography or topography, regime type, or other factors, which might, individually or in combination, be explanatory of ISIS/IS endurance and expansion. Most of those factors are found not to be especially significant, so the chapter focuses on the military strategies and tactics employed by ISIS/IS and central to its successes. The chapter then argues that the military tactics employed by ISIS/IS in the four countries and elsewhere better explain their expansion and endurance. The chapter concludes by outlining a framework of analysis explaining ISIS/IS combat effectiveness in the four countries and beyond.

Climate of Conquest

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pratyay Nath
Keyword(s):  
Vantage Point ◽  
North India ◽  
Mughal Empire ◽  
Military Logistics ◽  
Empire Building ◽  
Efficient Management ◽  
Military Tactics ◽  
Cultural Climate ◽  
Military Campaigns ◽  
The Military

What can war tell us about empire? Climate of Conquest is built around this question. Pratyay Nath eschews the conventional way of writing about warfare primarily in terms of battles and technologies. Instead, he unravels the deep connections that Mughal war-making shared with the broader dynamics of society, culture, and politics. In the process, he offers a new analysis of the Mughal empire from the vantage point of war. Climate of Conquest closely studies the dynamics of the military campaigns that helped the Mughals conquer North India and project their power beyond it. In the first part, Nath argues that these campaigns unfolded in constant negotiation with the diverse natural environment of South Asia. The empire sought to discipline the environment and harness its resources to satisfy its own military needs. At the same time, environmental factors like climate, terrain, and ecology profoundly influenced Mughal military tactics, strategy, and deployment of technology. In the second part, Nath makes three main points. Firstly, he argues that Mughal military success owed a lot to the efficient management of military logistics and the labour of an enormous non-elite, non-combatant workforce. Secondly, he explores the making of imperial frontiers and highlights the roles of forts, routes, and local alliances in the process. Finally, he maps the cultural climate of war at the Mughal court and discusses how the empire legitimized war and conquest. In the process, what emerges is a fresh interpretation of Mughal empire-building as a highly adaptive, flexible, and accommodative process.

How ISIS Fights

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Ashour
Keyword(s):  
Nonstate Actors ◽  
Combat Effectiveness ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Military

How can a widely hated, massively outnumbered and ludicrously outgunned organisation expands to occupy over 120 cities, towns and villages from the Southern Philippines to Western Libya? How can it endure and survive a military coalition of over 150 armed state and nonstate actors? How did ISIS/IS and their predecessors fight? And how can we account for their combat effectiveness? This book describes and analyses how ISIS/IS fights in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt. It analyses the military-making of ISIS/IS and their predecessors. The analysis focuses on 17 urban battles in Fallujah, Mosul, Ramadi, Raqqa (City and Governorate), Derna, Sirte and Northeastern Sinai. The book is based on fieldwork, dozens of interviews with soldiers and fighters who engaged ISIS/IS and their predecessors, and hundreds of ISIS/IS combat-relevant publications, audio- and video-releases. The findings contribute to our understanding of insurgencies’ combat effectiveness and offer insights on how ISIS/IS, like-minded organisations, and other armed nonstate actors may or will fight in the future.

Violent Origins of Authoritarian Variation: Rebellion Type and Regime Type in Cold War Southeast Asia

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Slater
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
The State ◽  
Regime Type ◽  
Critical Question ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Military

AbstractDictatorships are every bit as institutionally diverse as democracies, but where does this variation come from? This article argues that different types of internal rebellion influence the emergence of different types of authoritarian regimes. The critical question is whether rebel forces primarily seek to seize state power or to escape it. Regional rebellions seeking toescapethe state raise the probability of a military-dominated authoritarian regime, since they are especially likely to unify the military while heightening friction between civilian and military elites. Leftist rebellions seeking toseizethe state are more likely to give rise to civilian-dominated dictatorships by inspiring ‘joint projects’ in which military elites willingly support party-led authoritarian rule. Historical case studies of Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam illustrate the theory, elaborating how different types of violent conflict helped produce different types of dictatorships across the breadth of mainland and island Southeast Asia during the Cold War era.

Anti-Indian factions in Bangladeshi Politics (1971 – 2014): A Brief Survey

Ensemble ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-122
Author(s):  
Soham DasGupta ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Active Role ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Military Rule ◽  
Coup D'etat ◽  
Water Sharing ◽  
Popular Support ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Military

India played an active role in the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971. The relation between the two countries remained cordial in the initial years but it soon soured with the coup d’etat of 1975. This also marked the rise of the anti-Indian elements in the Bangladeshi politics. This article makes a brief survey of anti- Indian elements that has remained a part and parcel of the political fabric of Bangladesh since 1971. It also looks into the ways in which the anti-India stance has been instrumental in garnering popular support to hold on to political power. The article begins with the background of the creation of Bangladesh and India’s active role in it which was followed by the friendship treaty signed between the two countries. Then it moves to the changing scenario following the coup d’état of 1975 which marked the visible changes within the polity of Bangladesh. The nature of nationalism underwent change moving from secularism to a religious character which found expression in the policies of the state. The military rule most often found it convenient to use the anti-Indian stance in order to please the fundamentalist elements of the country in its bid to garner popular support. The issues of water sharing, refugees and issues of fomenting possible insurgency with active support of India were highlighted. Even after the restoration of democracy, the anti-Indian factions remained active in opposing the government of Sheikh Hasina’s foreign policy with regard to India. Radical religious factions, who had throughout opposed the liberation war, still play a major role in fanning the anti-Indian sentiments in Bangladeshi politics.

scholarly journals Age, Race, and At-Risk Drinking in an HIV-infected U.S. Military Cohort

2019 ◽  
Vol 184 (5-6) ◽  
pp. e263-e267
Author(s):  
Morgan Byrne ◽  
Robert Deiss ◽  
Octavio Mesner ◽  
Margaret Glancey ◽  
Anuradha Ganesan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Adverse Health Outcomes ◽  
Highly Active ◽  
Caucasian Race ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
High Risk Drinking ◽  
The Military ◽  
The U.S

Abstract Introduction There is a high prevalence of at-risk drinking in the U.S. military. Among HIV-infected individuals, alcohol abuse confers additional risk for adverse health outcomes. In the military, however, the characteristics of HIV-infected individuals who engage in high-risk drinking are not well defined. The purpose of this study was to assess risk factors associated with at-risk drinking in an HIV-positive longitudinal cohort of DoD beneficiaries. Materials and Methods Annual prevalence of at-risk drinking was calculated for members of the U.S. Military HIV Natural History Study who initiated highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) during or after January 2006 through May 2014; each participant completed at least one self-reported alcohol survey within a year of HAART initiation. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression was used to analyze factors associated with at-risk drinking. Results Sixty-six percent of subjects (495/752) reported at-risk drinking on at least one survey after HAART initiation. At-risk drinkers were more likely to be Active Duty compared to Retired (OR 0.65 95% CI [0.46, 0.92]). In multivariate models, Caucasian race (OR 3.30 95% CI [2.31, 4.71]); Hispanic/other race (OR 2.17 95% CI [1.51, 3.14]) and younger age (OR 0.61 per 10 years older, [95%CI 0.49, 0.75]) were significantly associated with at-risk drinking. Single relationship status (OR 1.51 95% CI [1.08, 2.13]) was also associated with at-risk drinking. Conclusions Consistent with general alcohol consumption patterns in the military, we found a high prevalence of at-risk drinking among individuals with HIV infection, which was associated most closely with young, non-African Americans. Targeting interventions toward this group will be important to reduce at-risk drinking and its potential for HIV-related complications.

scholarly journals Factors associated with women's risk of rape in the military environment. Am J Ind Med 43:262-273, 2003.

2003 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne G. Sadler ◽  
Brenda M. Booth ◽  
Brian L. Cook ◽  
Bradley N. Doebbeling
Keyword(s):  
Factors Associated ◽  
The Military

Factors Associated with Spouses Moving away from Their Military Installation during an Overseas Deployment

2000 ◽  
Vol 86 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1275-1282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter R. Schumm ◽  
D. Bruce Bell ◽  
Benjamin Knott
Keyword(s):  
Social Exchange ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Support Systems ◽  
High Stress ◽  
Military Family ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Military Installation ◽  
Military Support ◽  
The Military ◽  
Overseas Deployment

During overseas deployments, many spouses and families move away from their initial military installation, usually to live with or near relatives. Relatively little has been known about those who move away even though the issue is of importance to the military because its support systems are designed on the assumption that family members are living in proximity to those support systems. The purpose of this research was to describe the characteristics of those who actually moved away during a deployment compared to those who stayed but wanted to leave and to those who stayed. Results generally fit a social exchange model of reasons for moving, staying, or wanting to move but staying. High stress appears to lead to a desire to move but other factors act as barriers or facilitators to actually moving. Military family support did not predict moving away or staying. Implications for military support services are discussed.

The Military Tactics of Caesar and of To-day

1914 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 69
Author(s):  
Roland G. Kent
Keyword(s):  
Military Tactics ◽  
The Military

scholarly journals Democracy, external threat, and military spending

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 205316802110496
Author(s):  
Matthew Hauenstein ◽  
Matthew Smith ◽  
Mark Souva
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Military Spending ◽  
The United States ◽  
Regime Type ◽  
External Threat ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Relationship

A number of studies find that democracies spend less on their military than non-democracies. Yet there are well known counter-examples, including but not limited to the United States and Israel. We contend that these counter-examples are part of a larger pattern. The relationship between regime type and military spending is conditional on external threat. Among countries that do not perceive a significant external threat to their interests, democracies allocate considerably less to the military than non-democracies. However, democracies with a significant external threat do not allocate less to the military than non-democracies. The reason prior research consistently finds that democracies, on average, spend less on the military, even while controlling for external threat, is that democracies are much less likely to have a high external threat. For example, autocracies are nearly twice as likely as democracies to have a significant external threat in our sample. An empirical analysis of military spending from 1952–2000 is consistent with these expectations.

Ideology and Praxis in Thomas Sankara’s Populist Revolution of 4 August 1983 in Burkina Faso

1987 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 77-90
Author(s):  
Guy Martin
Keyword(s):  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Economic Organization ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
Coup D'etat ◽  
Popular Support ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
The Military ◽  
Upper Volta

This article is an inquiry into the origins, the ideological basis, political and economic organization and prospects of the Populist Revolution ushered in Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) by the military coup d’état of 4 August 1983 led by Captain Thomas Sankara. Set against an inauspicious background of scarce resources, dismal poverty, recurrent drought and regional and international hostility, and occurring at a time when Socialism is on the wane in Africa, the coup initially seemed doomed to failure. The very fact that it has been able to survive for almost three years in such an unfavourable context is in itself intriguing. We venture the hypothesis that the relative longevity and temporary success of the Sankara regime is to be explained by the fact that-contrary to many similar socialists experiments-it has actually managed to actively and durably mobilize genuine and significant popular support for its policies.

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