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Begin New Search Topic Conflict Resolution Political Geography Afghanistan Content Type Book

1. Counterinsurgency in Crisis: Britain and the Challenges of Modern Warfare

Author:
David H. Ucko and Robert Egnell
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Columbia University Press
Abstract:
Long considered the masters of counterinsurgency, the British military encountered significant problems in Iraq and Afghanistan when confronted with insurgent violence. In their effort to apply the principles and doctrines of past campaigns, they failed to prevent Basra and Helmand from descending into lawlessness, criminality, and violence. By juxtaposing the deterioration of these situations against Britain's celebrated legacy of counterinsurgency, this investigation identifies both the contributions and limitations of traditional tactics in such settings, exposing a disconcerting gap between ambitions and resources, intent and commitment. Building upon this detailed account of the Basra and Helmand campaigns, this volume conducts an unprecedented assessment of British military institutional adaptation in response to operations gone awry. In calling attention to the enduring effectiveness of insurgent methods and the threat posed by undergoverned spaces, David H. Ucko and Robert Egnell underscore the need for military organizations to meet the irregular challenges of future wars in new ways.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, War, and Counterinsurgency
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Central Asia
Publication Identifier:
9780231164276
Publication Identifier Type:
ISBN

2. Schools for Conflict or for Peace in Afghanistan

Author:
Dana Burde
Publication Date:
10-2014
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Columbia University Press
Abstract:
Foreign-backed funding for education does not always stabilize a country and enhance its statebuilding efforts. Dana Burde shows how aid to education in Afghanistan bolstered conflict both deliberately in the 1980s through violence-infused, anti-Soviet curricula and inadvertently in the 2000s through misguided stabilization programs. She also reveals how dominant humanitarian models that determine what counts as appropriate aid have limited attention and resources toward education, in some cases fueling programs that undermine their goals. For education to promote peace in Afghanistan, Burde argues we must expand equal access to quality community-based education and support programs that increase girls' and boys' attendance at school. Referring to a recent U.S. effort that has produced strong results in these areas, Burde commends the program's efficient administration and good quality, and its neutral curriculum, which can reduce conflict and build peace in lasting ways. Drawing on up-to-date research on humanitarian education work amid conflict zones around the world and incorporating insights gleaned from extensive fieldwork in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Burde recalculates and improves a popular formula for peace.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Education, Humanitarian Aid, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Central Asia
Publication Identifier:
9780231537513
Publication Identifier Type:
ISBN

3. Building State and Security in Afghanistan

Author:
Wolfgang Danspeckgruber
Publication Date:
11-2007
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
Abstract:
Afghanistan represents one of the most unique combinations a country and its society may offer. It is a country with a challenging and unforgiving but majestic geography which favors independence both to the central authorities in the capital but also to potential intruders from the outside. It holds a unique geopolitical location south and east of the Hindukush connecting Central Asia to South Asia, and the Middle East to each of them. It is home to a proud, independent people with a history of ages-old religions and diverse cultures, but also of conflict and war. The Afghans and their country stand out in terms of drama, disadvantages and sometimes even simple suffering, witnessing nearly three decades – an entire generation – of warfare and civil strife. Afghanistan too is home to one of the most archaic societies north of the Indian Ocean. It has very little transportation or energy infrastructure, one of the world's highest rates of poverty, and some of the lowest levels of literacy, health care and GDP per capita. However, Afghanistan is today the world's most important opium producer and is centrally located in a region marked by high population and poverty with tendencies toward fundamentalist religious expression. Afghanistan itself became a base of Islamic militancy.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Political Violence, Civil Society, and War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Middle East