Frederick Kagan

Det påstås att ungefär 14 500 krig har utkämpats sedan år 3 500 f.Kr. Mänskligheten har bara erfarit 300 år av fred på jorden. Under 1900-talet dödades fler människor i krig än något tidigare sekel. Relativt sett dödar vi dock varandra mer sällan. Håller vi gradvis på att bli mer fredliga? Oavsett hur många som dödas, och med vilken metod, kan vi vara säkra på att krig kommer att fortsätta utkämpas. Ligger orsakerna till krig i samhället eller i biologin, i tävlan om ekonomiska resurser eller sexuella, i historiska omständigheter eller i en universell våldsinstinkt? Allt sedan antiken fram till dagens terrorism har krig varit förstörare och skapare av stater och civilisationer. Essäerna i denna antologi har sitt ursprung i det internationellt välrenommerade Engelsbergsseminariet 2015 och är skrivna av historiker, journalister, tänkare, forskare och författare från hela världen. Huvudredaktörer är Kurt Almqvist och Alexander Linklater.

An argument for a dramatically different approach to counterinsurgency, based on a reinterpretation of the nature of counterinsurgency warfare. According to the prevailing view of counterinsurgency, the key to defeating insurgents is selecting methods that will win the people’s hearts and minds. The hearts-and-minds theory permeates not only most counterinsurgency books of the twenty-first century but the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, the U.S. military’s foremost text on counterinsurgency. Mark Moyar assails this conventional wisdom, asserting that the key to counterinsurgency is selecting commanders who have superior leadership abilities. Whereas the hearts-and-minds school recommends allocating much labor and treasure to economic, social, and political reforms, Moyar advocates concentrating resources on security, civil administration, and leadership development.Moyar presents a wide-ranging history of counterinsurgency, from the Civil War and Reconstruction to Afghanistan and Iraq, that draws on the historical record and interviews with hundreds of counterinsurgency veterans, including top leaders in today’s armed forces. Through a series of case studies, Moyar identifies the ten critical attributes of counterinsurgency leadership and reveals why these attributes have been much more prevalent in some organizations than others. He explains how the U.S. military and America’s allies in Afghanistan and Iraq should revamp their personnel systems in order to elevate more individuals with those attributes.A Question of Command will reshape the study and practice of counterinsurgency warfare. With counterinsurgency now one of the most pressing issues facing the United States, this book is a must-read for policymakers, military officers, and citizens.

In Finding the Target, Frederick Kagan describes the three basic transformations within the U.S. military since Vietnam. First was the move to an all-volunteer force and a new generation of weapons systems in the 1970s. Second was the emergence of stealth technology and precision-guided munitions in the 1980s. Third was the information technology that followed the fall of the Soviet Union and the first Golf War. This last could have insured the U.S. continuing military preeminence, but this goal was compromised by Clinton's drawing down of our armed forces in the 1990s and Bush's response to 9/11 and the global war on terror.