Uneasy Military Encounters

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Author :
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 1501751344
Total Pages : 291 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (17 download)

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Book Synopsis Uneasy Military Encounters by : Ruth Streicher

Download or read book Uneasy Military Encounters written by Ruth Streicher and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-15 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Uneasy Military Encounters presents a historically and theoretically grounded political ethnography of the Thai military's counterinsurgency practices in the southern borderland, home to the greater part of the Malay-Muslim minority. Ruth Streicher argues that counterinsurgency practices mark the southern population as the racialized, religious, and gendered other of the Thai, which contributes to producing Thailand as an imperial formation: a state formation based on essentialized difference between the Thai and their others. Through a genealogical approach, Uneasy Military Encounters addresses broad conceptual questions of imperial politics in a non-Western context: How can we understand imperial policing in a country that was never colonized? How is "Islam" constructed in a state that is officially secular and promotes Buddhist tolerance? What are the (historical) dynamics of imperial patriarchy in a context internationally known for its gender pluralism? The resulting ethnography excavates the imperial politics of concrete encounters between the military and the southern population in the ongoing conflict in southern Thailand.

The Malay-Muslim Insurgency in Southern Thailand--Understanding the Conflict's Evolving Dynamic

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Author :
Publisher : Rand Corporation
ISBN 13 : 0833045342
Total Pages : 39 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (33 download)

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Book Synopsis The Malay-Muslim Insurgency in Southern Thailand--Understanding the Conflict's Evolving Dynamic by : Peter Chalk

Download or read book The Malay-Muslim Insurgency in Southern Thailand--Understanding the Conflict's Evolving Dynamic written by Peter Chalk and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2008-06-10 with total page 39 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Current unrest in the Malay-Muslim provinces of southern Thailand has captured growing national, regional, and international attention due to the heightened tempo and scale of rebel attacks, the increasingly jihadist undertone that has come to characterize insurgent actions, and the central government's often brutal handling of the situation on the ground. This paper assesses the current situation and its probable direction.

Confronting Ghosts

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781920681609
Total Pages : 116 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (816 download)

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Book Synopsis Confronting Ghosts by : Joseph Chinyong Liow

Download or read book Confronting Ghosts written by Joseph Chinyong Liow and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this Lowy Institute Paper, Joseph Chinyong Liow and Don Pathan examine the ongoing violence in the majority Muslim Malay provinces of Thailand's south. Through unprecedented fieldwork, the authors provide the deepest and most up-to-date analysis of the insurgency and problems the Thai Government faces in dealing with it.

The Thai Way of Counterinsurgency

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Author :
Publisher : CreateSpace
ISBN 13 : 9781497395701
Total Pages : 476 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (957 download)

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Book Synopsis The Thai Way of Counterinsurgency by : Jeff M. Moore

Download or read book The Thai Way of Counterinsurgency written by Jeff M. Moore and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-05-03 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book describes Thai counterinsurgency (COIN) strategies, operations, and tactics for three wars ranging from 1965-present. Some of its highlights: - Provides an insider's view of 50 years of Thai national security and Irregular Warfare (IW) decision-making in a way that no book has previously done - Profiles the war against communist insurgents (1965-85); southern separatists (1980-1998); and southern separatists/Islamist jihadists (2004-present/2014) - Discuses major Thai defense and political personalities and the impact of their leadership - Contains lessons RE: strategizing and executing IW/COIN, including successes and failures - Covers military, political, and economic operations in detail - Based on IW monitoring and operations planning model devised by the author - Especially relevant for America's "Asia pivot" and understanding Thailand, Southeast Asia, and China

Tearing Apart the Land

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Author :
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780801474996
Total Pages : 268 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (749 download)

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Book Synopsis Tearing Apart the Land by : Duncan McCargo

Download or read book Tearing Apart the Land written by Duncan McCargo and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2008-07-31 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since January 2004, a violent separatist insurgency has raged in southern Thailand, resulting in more than three thousand deaths. Though largely unnoticed outside Southeast Asia, the rebellion in Pattani and neighboring provinces and the Thai government's harsh crackdown have resulted in a full-scale crisis. Tearing Apart the Land by Duncan McCargo, one of the world's leading scholars of contemporary Thai politics, is the first fieldwork-based book about this conflict. Drawing on his extensive knowledge of the region, hundreds of interviews conducted during a year's research in the troubled area, and unpublished Thai-language sources that range from anonymous leaflets to confessions extracted by Thai security forces, McCargo locates the roots of the conflict in the context of the troubled power relations between Bangkok and the Muslim-majority "deep South." McCargo describes how Bangkok tried to establish legitimacy by co-opting local religious and political elites. This successful strategy was upset when Thaksin Shinawatra became prime minister in 2001 and set out to reorganize power in the region. Before Thaksin was overthrown in a 2006 military coup, his repressive policies had exposed the precariousness of the Bangkok government's influence. A rejuvenated militant movement had emerged, invoking Islamic rhetoric to challenge the authority of local leaders obedient to Bangkok. For readers interested in contemporary Southeast Asia, insurgency and counterinsurgency, Islam, politics, and questions of political violence, Tearing Apart the Land is a powerful account of the changing nature of Islam on the Malay peninsula, the legitimacy of the central Thai government and the failures of its security policy, the composition of the militant movement, and the conflict's disastrous impact on daily life in the deep South. Carefully distinguishing the uprising in southern Thailand from other Muslim rebellions, McCargo suggests that the conflict can be ended only if a more participatory mode of governance is adopted in the region.

Countering Insurgencies and Violent Extremism in South and South East Asia

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 0429871473
Total Pages : 476 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (298 download)

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Book Synopsis Countering Insurgencies and Violent Extremism in South and South East Asia by : Shanthie D'Souza

Download or read book Countering Insurgencies and Violent Extremism in South and South East Asia written by Shanthie D'Souza and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-01-08 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume of case studies examines the rise in violent extremism, terrorism and insurgency in South and South East Asia, and subsequent state responses. The South and South East of Asia has experienced various forms of extremism and violence for years, with a growing demand for academic or policy-relevant work that will enhance understanding of the reasons behind this. The violent challenges in this area have taken a variety of forms and are often exacerbated by lack of governance, tie-ins to existing regional criminal networks, colonial legacies and a presence of international terrorist movements. Written by experts with field experience, this volume analyzes the key element of successful response as the appropriate application of doctrine following nuanced assessment of threat. In practice, this often means counterinsurgency doctrine. The essays also analyze the need for irregular war practitioners to systematically examine the changing character of intrastate violent irregular challenges. The volume fills a gap in the understanding of patterns, drivers, organizations and ideologies of various insurgent and terrorist groups, and state responses. It also provides a set of recommendations for addressing the unfolding situation. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, counterinsurgency and counterterrorism, Asian politics and security studies in general.

Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in South Asia

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Author :
Publisher : United States Institute of Peace Press
ISBN 13 : 9781601271914
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (719 download)

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Book Synopsis Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in South Asia by : Moeed Yusuf

Download or read book Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in South Asia written by Moeed Yusuf and published by United States Institute of Peace Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in South Asia, ten experts native to South Asia consider the nature of intrastate insurgent movements from a peacebuilding perspective. Case studies on India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka lend new insights into the dynamics of each conflict and how they might be prevented or resolved.

Infiltrating Society

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Author :
Publisher : ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute
ISBN 13 : 9814881724
Total Pages : 204 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (148 download)

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Book Synopsis Infiltrating Society by : Puangthong Pawakapan

Download or read book Infiltrating Society written by Puangthong Pawakapan and published by ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. This book was released on 2021-01-11 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Thai politics is driven by actors and actions of paradox such as anti-election movements for accountability or independent, partisan organizations. This lucidly written book uncovers the 'military-led civil affairs' that earn the armed forces the omnipotent role in Thai society. It enriches our understanding of the Thai military in both empirical and theoretical ways. Empirically, the book illuminates how the soldiers have been intensively involved in supposedly civic activities ranging from forest land management to poverty reduction. Such long-lasting and extensive involvement means the military could mobilize the organized mass of over 500,000 strong when necessary. Theoretically, readers will learn how an ideological discourse (“threats to national security”) has been continuously redefined to serve the military’s evolving political and rent-seeking missions from the Cold War era to the twenty-first century. It also traces the persistence and mutation of this highly adaptable organization, the one that knows when to roar and when to camouflage. Still waters run deep; Thai military operations run deeper and wider."--Veerayooth Kanchoochat, Associate Professor of Political Economy, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Tokyo “A truly monumental work about Thailand’s military from the 1960s until today, this solid study focuses upon the armed forces’ internal security role across Thai society, how the military has succeeded in legitimizing itself and boosting its power as a counterinsurgency force, guardian of monarchy and engine of development. The book also valuably looks at the military’s establishment of mass organizations beginning during the Cold War and mobilization of royalists since 2006. The book thus illustrates how the military has been able to enhance and sustain its overwhelming influence and is thus a valuable study for anyone wanting to understand key power-brokers in Thailand.”— Dr Paul Chambers, Center of ASEAN Community Studies, Naresuan University, Thailand.

Political Ethnography

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Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226736784
Total Pages : 377 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (267 download)

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Book Synopsis Political Ethnography by : Edward Schatz

Download or read book Political Ethnography written by Edward Schatz and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013-02-11 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scholars of politics have sought in recent years to make the discipline more hospitable to qualitative methods of research. Lauding the results of this effort and highlighting its potential for the future, Political Ethnography makes a compelling case for one such method in particular. Ethnography, the contributors amply demonstrate in a wide range of original essays, is uniquely suited for illuminating the study of politics. Situating these pieces within the context of developments in political science, Edward Schatz provides an overarching introduction and substantive prefaces to each of the volume’s four sections. The first of these parts addresses the central ontological and epistemological issues raised by ethnographic work, while the second grapples with the reality that all research is conducted from a first-person perspective. The third section goes on to explore how ethnographic research can provide fresh perspectives on such perennial topics as opinion, causality, and power. Concluding that political ethnography can and should play a central role in the field as a whole, the final chapters illuminate the many ways in which ethnographic approaches can enhance, improve, and, in some areas, transform the study of politics.

The Accidental Guerrilla

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199754098
Total Pages : 377 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (997 download)

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Book Synopsis The Accidental Guerrilla by : David Kilcullen

Download or read book The Accidental Guerrilla written by David Kilcullen and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor to General David Petraeus, Kilcullen's vision of war dramatically influenced America's decision to rethink its military strategy in Iraq. Now, Kilcullen provides a remarkably fresh perspective on the War on Terror.

Resisting Rebellion

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Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
ISBN 13 : 9780813191706
Total Pages : 364 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (917 download)

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Book Synopsis Resisting Rebellion by : Anthony James Joes

Download or read book Resisting Rebellion written by Anthony James Joes and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2006-08-18 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Resisting Rebellion, Anthony James Joes explores insurgencies ranging across five continents and spanning more than two centuries. Analyzing examples from North and South America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, he identifies recurrent patterns and offers useful lessons for future policymakers. Insurgencies arise from many sources of discontent, including foreign occupation, fraudulent elections, and religious persecution, but they also stem from ethnic hostilities, the aspirations of would-be elites, and traditions of political violence. Because insurgency is as much a political phenomenon as a military one, effective counterinsurgency requires a thorough understanding of the insurgents' motives and sources of support. Clear political aims must guide military action if a counterinsurgency is to be successful and prepare a lasting reconciliation within a deeply fragmented society. The most successful counterinsurgency campaign undertaken by the United States was the one against Philippine insurgents following the Spanish-American War. But even more instructive than successful counterinsurgencies are the persistent patterns of errors revealed by Joes's comparative study. Instances include the indiscriminate destructiveness displayed by the Japanese in China and the Soviets in Afghanistan, and the torture of suspected Muslim terrorists by members of the French Army in Algeria. Joes's comprehensive twofold approach to counterinsurgency is easily applied to the U.S. The first element, developing the strategic basis for victory, emphasizes creating a peaceful path to the redress of legitimate grievances, committing sufficient troops to the counterinsurgent operation, and isolating the conflict area from outside aid. The second element aims at marginalizing the insurgents and includes fair conduct toward civilians and prisoners, systematic intelligence gathering, depriving insurgents of weapons and food, separating insurgent leaders from their followers, and offering amnesty to all but the most incorrigible. Providing valuable insights into a world of conflict, Resisting Rebellion is a thorough and readable exploration of successes and failures in counterinsurgency's long history and a strategy for the future.

Shooting Up

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Author :
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 081570450X
Total Pages : 292 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (157 download)

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Book Synopsis Shooting Up by : Vanda Felbab-Brown

Download or read book Shooting Up written by Vanda Felbab-Brown and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2009-12-01 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most policymakers see counterinsurgency and counternarcotics policy as two sides of the same coin. Stop the flow of drug money, the logic goes, and the insurgency will wither away. But the conventional wisdom is dangerously wrongheaded, as Vanda Felbab-Brown argues in Shooting Up. Counternarcotics campaigns, particularly those focused on eradication, typically fail to bankrupt belligerent groups that rely on the drug trade for financing. Worse, they actually strengthen insurgents by increasing their legitimacy and popular support. Felbab-Brown, a leading expert on drug interdiction efforts and counterinsurgency, draws on interviews and fieldwork in some of the world's most dangerous regions to explain how belligerent groups have become involved in drug trafficking and related activities, including kidnapping, extortion, and smuggling. Shooting Up shows vividly how powerful guerrilla and terrorist organizations — including Peru's Shining Path, the FARC and the paramilitaries in Colombia, and the Taliban in Afghanistan — have learned to exploit illicit markets. In addition, the author explores the interaction between insurgent groups and illicit economies in frequently overlooked settings, such as Northern Ireland, Turkey, and Burma. While aggressive efforts to suppress the drug trade typically backfire, Shooting Up shows that a laissez-faire policy toward illicit crop cultivation can reduce support for the belligerents and, critically, increase cooperation with government intelligence gathering. When combined with interdiction targeting major traffickers, this strategy gives policymakers a better chance of winning both the war against the insurgents and the war on drugs.

Counterinsurgency in Crisis

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Author :
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231535414
Total Pages : 249 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (315 download)

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Book Synopsis Counterinsurgency in Crisis by : Robert Egnell

Download or read book Counterinsurgency in Crisis written by Robert Egnell and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-08 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Islam in Modern Thailand

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134583893
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (345 download)

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Book Synopsis Islam in Modern Thailand by : Rajeswary Ampalavanar Brown

Download or read book Islam in Modern Thailand written by Rajeswary Ampalavanar Brown and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-01 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses the complexity of Islam in Thailand, by focusing on Islamic charities and institutions affiliated to the mosque. By extrapolating through Islam and the waqf (Islamic charity) in different regions of Thailand the diversity in races and institutions, it demonstrates the regional contrasts within Thai Islam. The book also underlines the importance of the internal histories of these separate spaces, and the processes by which institutions and ideologies become entrenched. It goes on to look at the socio economic transformation that is taking place within the context of trading networks through Islamic institutions and civil networks linked to mosques, madrasahs and regional power brokers. Brown casts this study of private Islamic welfare as strengthening rather than weakening relations with the secular Thai state. The current regime’s effectiveness in coopting these Muslim elites, including Lutfi and Wisoot, into state bureaucracies assists in widening their popular base in the south, in the north-east, and in Bangkok. Such appointments were efficacious in reinforcing the elite’s Islamic identity within a modern, secular, literate, and cosmopolitan Thai culture. In challenging existing studies of Thai Muslims as furtive protest minorities, this book diverts our attention to how Islamic philanthropy provides the logic and dynamism behind the creation of autonomous spaces for these independent groups, affording unusual insights into their economic, political and social histories.

The Thai Way of Counterinsurgency

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Author :
Publisher : Muir Analytics
ISBN 13 : 9780415836463
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (364 download)

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Book Synopsis The Thai Way of Counterinsurgency by : Jeff Moore

Download or read book The Thai Way of Counterinsurgency written by Jeff Moore and published by Muir Analytics. This book was released on 2013 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book describes the Thai way of counterinsurgency (COIN). The Thai have successfully fought and defeated two insurgencies in the past, and they are currently fighting another. The first war, which was country wide, was against communist insurgents from 1965-85. The second was on Thailand's southernmost border against a hodgepodge of separatists and criminal groups that touted everything from increased political participation, to secession, to jihad. The third and current insurgency, also on the southern border, fights for a separate state under the banner of Pattani nationalism, Malay racism, and jihad. This movement makes extensive use of terrorism by regularly targeting civilians. Why is the Thai way of COIN relevant? America and its allies – including Thailand – could use the lessons to improve their COIN doctrine. Since America's retooling of its COIN methods because of its involvement in theaters such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Philippines, the government has done scores of COIN studies in pursuit of lessons learned. One of the biggest was the U.S. Army and Marine Corps COIN manual. These studies included Vietnam, Ireland, Malaysia, Algeria, the Philippines, China, ancient Persia, Lebanon, Spain, and Haiti. The manual didn't outwardly cite examples from Thailand's successful COINs despite their value. Second, this book explains Thai national security issues and decision making in intricate detail. This is critically important to understand as America – and also the world – re-emphasizes focus on the Asia-Pacific region as of 2012. If we understand Thailand's defense priorities, both internal and external, then we can better engage it. The third reason the Thai way of COIN is relevant is it explains well the “how to” of COIN from the strategic to the operational, and in some cases the tactical. This book will be of much interest to students of counterinsurgency, SE Asian politics, strategic studies and security studies in general.

Khaki Capital

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Author :
Publisher : Nias Studies in Asian Topics
ISBN 13 : 9788776942250
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (422 download)

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Book Synopsis Khaki Capital by : Paul Chambers

Download or read book Khaki Capital written by Paul Chambers and published by Nias Studies in Asian Topics. This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Although Southeast Asia has seen the emergence of civilian rule, the military continues to receive a large chunk of the national budget and, with significant assets and economic activities, often possesses enormous economic clout -- enhancing its political power while hindering democratization or civilian rule. The political economy of the military in less developed countries is thus a crucial subject area in terms of democratization. This study examines such "khaki capital" in seven Southeast Asian cases -- Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines and Indonesia. Each chapter analyses the historical evolution of khaki capital in the given country case; the role of internal and external factors (e.g. military unity and globalization) in this trajectory; and how the resulting equilibrium has affected civil-military relations. This work is important for understanding how and why military influence over parts of the economy in Southeast Asia has remained an impediment to achieving civilian control and democratization. Ultimately, this book tells the story of how militaries in Southeast Asia have benefited economically and the extent to which such gains have translated into the leveraging of political power." --

The Political Impossibility of Modern Counterinsurgency

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Author :
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231539126
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (315 download)

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Book Synopsis The Political Impossibility of Modern Counterinsurgency by : M.L.R. Smith

Download or read book The Political Impossibility of Modern Counterinsurgency written by M.L.R. Smith and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2015-05-19 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The counterinsurgency (COIN) paradigm dominates military and political conduct in contemporary Western strategic thought. It assumes future wars will unfold as "low intensity" conflicts within rather than between states, requiring specialized military training and techniques. COIN is understood as a logical, effective, and democratically palatable method for confronting insurgency—a discrete set of practices that, through the actions of knowledgeable soldiers and under the guidance of an expert elite, creates lasting results. Through an extensive investigation into COIN's theories, methods, and outcomes, this book undermines enduring claims about COIN's success while revealing its hidden meanings and effects. Interrogating the relationship between counterinsurgency and war, the authors question the supposed uniqueness of COIN's attributes and try to resolve the puzzle of its intellectual identity. Is COIN a strategy, a doctrine, a theory, a military practice, or something else? Their analysis ultimately exposes a critical paradox within COIN: while it ignores the vital political dimensions of war, it is nevertheless the product of a misplaced ideological faith in modernization.