Audiobook17 hours
Nonstate Warfare: The Military Methods of Guerillas, Warlords, and Militias
Written by Stephen Biddle
Narrated by Danny Campbell
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
()
About this audiobook
Since September 11th, 2001, armed nonstate actors have received increased attention and discussion from scholars, policymakers, and the military. Underlying debates about nonstate warfare and how it should be countered is one crucial assumption: that state and nonstate actors fight very differently. In Nonstate Warfare, Stephen Biddle upturns this distinction, arguing that there is actually nothing intrinsic separating state or nonstate military behavior. Through an in-depth look at nonstate military conduct, Biddle shows that many nonstate armies now fight more "conventionally" than many state armies.
Biddle frames nonstate and state methods along a continuum, spanning Fabian-style irregular warfare to Napoleonic-style warfare involving massed armies, and he presents a systematic theory to explain any given nonstate actor's position on this spectrum. Showing that most warfare for at least a century has kept to the blended middle of the spectrum, Biddle argues that material and tribal culture explanations for nonstate warfare methods do not adequately explain observed patterns of warmaking. Investigating a range of historical examples from Lebanon and Iraq to Somalia, Croatia, and the Vietcong, Biddle demonstrates that viewing state and nonstate warfighting as mutually exclusive can lead to errors in policy and scholarship.
Biddle frames nonstate and state methods along a continuum, spanning Fabian-style irregular warfare to Napoleonic-style warfare involving massed armies, and he presents a systematic theory to explain any given nonstate actor's position on this spectrum. Showing that most warfare for at least a century has kept to the blended middle of the spectrum, Biddle argues that material and tribal culture explanations for nonstate warfare methods do not adequately explain observed patterns of warmaking. Investigating a range of historical examples from Lebanon and Iraq to Somalia, Croatia, and the Vietcong, Biddle demonstrates that viewing state and nonstate warfighting as mutually exclusive can lead to errors in policy and scholarship.
Related to Nonstate Warfare
Related audiobooks
The New Rules of War: Victory in the Age of Durable Disorder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The American Way of War: Guided Missiles, Misguided Men, and a Republic in Peril Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Adaptation Under Fire: How Militaries Change in Wartime Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Future Peace: Technology, Aggression, and the Rush to War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5War Transformed: The Future of Twenty-First-Century Great Power Competition and Conflict Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why America Loses Wars: Limited War and US Strategy from the Korean War to the Present Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Military Strategy: A Global History Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Future of War: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War in an Age of Peace: U.S. Grand Strategy and Resolute Restraint Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Culture of Military Organizations Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Twilight Struggle: What the Cold War Teaches Us about Great-Power Rivalry Today Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Return of Great Power Rivalry: Democracy versus Autocracy from the Ancient World to the U.S. and China Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Origins of Victory: How Disruptive Military Innovation Determines the Fates of Great Powers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Coercion: The Power to Hurt in International Politics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Strategy of Denial: American Defense in an Age of Great Power Conflict Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5China's Strategic Arsenal: Worldview, Doctrine, and Systems Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Russian Understanding of War: Blurring the Lines Between War and Peace Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Four Greatest Strategic Military Thinkers in History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Long Game: China's Grand Strategy to Displace American Order Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Getting China Wrong Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Culture of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Small Wars, Big Data: The Information Revolution in Modern Conflict Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Institution Building in Weak States: The Primacy of Local Politics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great Strategic Rivalries: From The Classical World to the Cold War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRethinking American Grand Strategy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOil, the State, and War: The Foreign Policies of Petrostates Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Restraining Great Powers: Soft Balancing from Empires to the Global Era Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCommunist China's War Inside America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stronger: Adapting America's China Strategy in an Age of Competitive Interdependence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Politics For You
The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 48 Laws of Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Elon Musk Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5While Time Remains: A North Korean Girl's Search for Freedom in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enough Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Behold a Pale Horse Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Out of the Wreckage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Razorblade Tears: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An American Marriage: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Small Mercies: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Nonstate Warfare
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
1 rating0 reviews