Unfolding the Future of the Long War

Unfolding the Future of the Long War
Author: Christopher G. Pernin
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 229
Release: 2008
Genre: History
ISBN: 0833046314

"The United States is currently engaged in a military effort that has been characterized as the "long war." The long war has been described by some as an epic struggle against adversaries bent on forming a unified Islamic world to supplant western dominance, while others describe it more narrowly as an extension of the war on terror. But while policymakers, military leaders, and scholars have offered numerous definitions of the long war, no consensus has been reached about this term or its implications for the United States. To understand the impacts that this long war will have on the U.S. Army and on U.S. forces in general, it is necessary to understand more precisely what the long war is and how it might unfold over the coming years. To address this need, this study explores the concept of the long war and identifies potential ways in which it might unfold as well as the implications for the Army and the U.S. military more generally. This report uses the generation of either "trajectories" or alternative paths in which the long war might unfold to explore the implications for the U.S. military. The discussion focuses on the potential threats the U.S. faces in each trajectory and considers the confluence of three major problems raised by the war: those related to the ideologies espoused by key adversaries in the conflict, those related to the use of terrorism, and those related to governance (i.e., its absence or presence, its quality, and the predisposition of specific governing bodies to the United States and its interests). The goal of this report is not to determine which of these areas is the key problem. Instead, we take the stance that in order to ensure that this long war follows a favorable course, the United States will need to make a concerted effort across all three domains. Numerous broad conclusions and recommendations are given for addressing issues surrounding the long war." -- provided by publisher.

Unfolding the Future of the Long War: Motivations, Prospects, and Implications for the U.S. Army

Unfolding the Future of the Long War: Motivations, Prospects, and Implications for the U.S. Army
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2008
Genre:
ISBN:

The United States is currently engaged in what has been characterized as the "long war." The long war has been described by some as an epic struggle against adversaries bent on forming a unified Islamic world to supplant Western dominance, while others characterize it more narrowly as an extension of the war on terrorism. But while policy makers, military leaders, and scholars have offered numerous definitions of the long war, no consensus has been reached about this term or its implications for the United States. This study explores the concept of the long war and identifies potential ways in which it might unfold as well as the implications for the Army and the U.S. military more generally. One way to think about the potential threats the United States faces in the long war is to consider the consequence of three problems raised by the war: those related to the ideologies espoused by key adversaries in the conflict, those related to the use of terrorism, and those related to governance. To ensure that this war follows a favorable course, the United States will need to make a concerted effort across all three domains. Also important for understanding the long war is a definition of the adversary. Because several of the adversaries that have attacked the United States have espoused an ideology laced with Islamic motifs and juridical justifications, this study examined groups operating within predominantly Muslim countries and organized them into categories based on an understanding of their motivating ideas and goals. The study identifies eight alternative "trajectories," or paths, that the long war might take. The trajectories emphasize not what the future looks like, but the ways in which it might unfold. This analysis, combined with the authors' understanding of the components of the long war, provided the basis for a set of seven strategy options for the United States in the long war.

Unfolding the Future of the Long War

Unfolding the Future of the Long War
Author: Christopher G. Pernin
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2008
Genre:
ISBN:

The United States is currently engaged in a military effort that has been characterized as the "long war." This study explores the concept of long war and identifies ways in which it might unfold as well as the implications for the Army and the U.S. military more generally. This report uses the generation of either "trajectories" or alternative paths in which the long war might unfold to explore the implications for the U.S. military.

Oil and God

Oil and God
Author: Elie Elhadj
Publisher: Universal-Publishers
Total Pages: 374
Release: 2018-08-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1581126077

Oil and God is an unabashed realpolitik analysis of U.S. oil geopolitics and Saudi Arabia’s symbiotic attachment to Wahhabism. Oil and God contends that oil hegemony is world hegemony. The U.S. has protected the al-Sauds since 1945. Some 35,000 U.S. soldiers are in regional air and naval bases to protect the oil fields and ruling sheikhs. In Washington’s hands, Saudi oil is a non-lethal WMD. Not even the 9/11 atrocities could make Washington punish Riyadh. Oil and God investigates why Iraq was destroyed, why Iran was allowed to dominate Baghdad, and why Shi’ite/Sunni wars continue to burn. Once oil is replaced by green energy, Washington will abandon Riyadh, Saudi cash will dwindle, and Wahhabi terror will diminish.

G.S. Isserson and the War of the Future

G.S. Isserson and the War of the Future
Author: G.S. Isserson
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2016-07-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1476623902

Georgii Samoilovich Isserson (1898-1976) was one of the most prescient and prolific authors on military art in the years preceding World War II. His theories greatly influenced the Red Army's conduct of operations and were instrumental in achieving victory over Germany. This book gathers together for the first time English translations of Isserson's most influential works, including some that are still classified. His writings on the preparation and conduct of the deep offensive operation--the deployment of tanks, mechanized infantry, air power and airborne troops to penetrate deeply echeloned defenses--also serve as a primer on how to construct a position to defeat such an attack. His well argued defense of the deep operation based on an examination of recent wars and his reminiscences about the people and events that shaped Soviet military theory in the 1930s are included.

The Art of War in an Asymmetric World

The Art of War in an Asymmetric World
Author: Barry Scott Zellen
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 362
Release: 2012-06-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1441195556

This book examines the post Cold War security environment and how the U.S. has learned to wage war in this complex assymetrical world of conflict.

Darfur

Darfur
Author: Julie Flint
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2008-10-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1848133413

Written by two authors with unparalleled first-hand experience of Darfur, this is the definitive guide. Newly updated and hugely expanded, this edition details Darfur's history in Sudan. It traces the origins, organization and ideology of the infamous Janjawiid and rebel groups, including the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement. It also analyses the brutal response of the Sudanese government. The authors investigate the responses by the African Union and the international community, including the halting peace talks and the attempts at peacekeeping. Flint and de Waal provide an authoritative and compelling account of contemporary Africa's most controversial conflict.

Free Slaves, Freetown, and the Sierra Leonean Civil War

Free Slaves, Freetown, and the Sierra Leonean Civil War
Author: Joseph Kaifala
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2016-11-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 1349948543

This book is a historical narrative covering various periods in Sierra Leone’s history from the fifteenth century to the end of its civil war in 2002. It entails the history of Sierra Leone from its days as a slave harbor through to its founding as a home for free slaves, and toward its political independence and civil war. In 1462, the country was discovered by a Portuguese explorer, Pedro de Sintra, who named it Serra Lyoa (Lion Mountains). Sierra Leone later became a lucrative hub for the Transatlantic Slave Trade. At the end of slavery in England, Freetown was selected as a home for the Black Poor, free slaves in England after the Somerset ruling. The Black Poor were joined by the Nova Scotians, American slaves who supported or fought with the British during the American Revolution. The Maroons, rebellious slaves from Jamaica, arrived in 1800. The Recaptives, freed in enforcement of British antislavery laws, were also taken to Freetown. Freetown became a British colony in 1808 and Sierra Leone obtained political independence from Britain in 1961. The development of the country was derailed by the death of its first Prime Minister, Sir Milton Margai, and thirty years after independence the country collapsed into a brutal civil war.

Looming Civil War

Looming Civil War
Author: Jason Phillips
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 492
Release: 2018-09-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 019086818X

How did Americans imagine the Civil War before it happened? The most anticipated event of the nineteenth century appeared in novels, prophecies, dreams, diaries, speeches, and newspapers decades before the first shots at Fort Sumter. People forecasted a frontier filibuster, an economic clash between free and slave labor, a race war, a revolution, a war for liberation, and Armageddon. Reading their premonitions reveals how several factors, including race, religion, age, gender, region, and class, shaped what people thought about the future and how they imagined it. Some Americans pictured the future as an open, contested era that they progressed toward and molded with their thoughts and actions. Others saw the future as a closed, predetermined world that approached them and sealed their fate. When the war began, these opposing temporalities informed how Americans grasped and waged the conflict. In this creative history, Jason Phillips explains how the expectations of a host of characters-generals, politicians, radicals, citizens, and slaves-affected how people understood the unfolding drama and acted when the future became present. He reconsiders the war's origins without looking at sources using hindsight, that is, without considering what caused the cataclysm and whether it was inevitable. As a result, Phillips dispels a popular myth that all Americans thought the Civil War would be short and glorious at the outset, a ninety-day affair full of fun and adventure. Much more than rational power games played by elites, the war was shaped by uncertainties and emotions and darkened horizons that changed over time. Looming Civil War highlights how individuals approached an ominous future with feelings, thoughts, and perspectives different from our sensibilities and unconnected to our view of their world. Civil War Americans had their own prospects to ponder and forge as they discovered who they were and where life would lead them. The Civil War changed more than America's future; it transformed how Americans imagined the future and how Americans have thought about the future ever since.

7 Deadly Scenarios

7 Deadly Scenarios
Author: Andrew Krepinevich
Publisher: Bantam
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2009-01-27
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0553905619

A global pandemic finds millions swarming across the U.S. border. Major American cities are leveled by black-market nukes. China’s growing civil unrest ignites a global showdown. Pakistan’s collapse leads to a hunt for its nuclear weapons. What if the worst that could happen actually happens? How will we respond? Are we prepared? These are the questions that Andrew F. Krepinevich asks—and answers—in this timely and often chilling book. As a military expert and consultant, Krepinevich must think the unthinkable based on the latest intelligence and geopolitical trends—and devise a response in the event our worst nightmares become reality. As riveting as a thriller, 7 Deadly Scenarios reveals the forces—both overt and covert—that are in play; the real ambitions of world powers, terrorist groups, and rogue states; and the actions and counteractions both our enemies and our allies can be expected to take—and what we must do to prepare before it’s too late.