Robert Egnell

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.

"Fredssoldater" är temat för Armémuseums årsbok, en extra stor volym för de två åren 2008/2009. Lång väntan där ingenting händer och hjälpande insatser i svårt härjade krigsområden är olika sidor av en fredssoldats uppdrag. På Försvarsmaktens hemsida sägs det att 1 800 svenskar gör utlandstjänst varje år. I det moderna försvaret ska oroshärdar stoppas där de uppstår och konflikter begränsas från att spridas över stora områden. Armémuseum vill genom denna bok ge ett historiskt perspektiv på opretationerna och även ge aktuella inblickar i svenska utlandsinsatser av idag. De tolv artiklarna i boken berättar utförligt om utlandsstyrkan, dess historia och utveckling och i flera fall utifrån personliga erfarenhter. Frågor som ställs i artiklarna och i försök att besvaras är till exempel: - Vad gör vi för nytta? - Har vi förmåga i värnpliktsarmén att hitta soldatmaterial? - Vilka uppgifter har kvinnorna i de fredsbevarande operationerna? - Hur är det att komma hem? - Har vi lärt oss någonting? Boken är en aktuell och intressant fördjupning i ämnet.

Hur kan vi förstå uppkomsten och konsekvenserna av dagens konflikter? Vad kan göras för att förhindra att de bryter ut? Och hur kan pågående konflikter lösas på ett sätt som skapar varaktig fred? I denna breda grundbok presenteras centrala frågeställningar och analytiska perspektiv på krig, terrorism, konflikthantering och konfliktlösning, samt fredsbyggande och utveckling. Boken innehåller också illustrativa fallanalyser – allt ifrån första världskriget, kriget i Afghanistan, konflikthantering i Afrika, svensk säkerhetspolitik och försoningsprocesser i Bosnien-Hercegovina till fredsbyggande insatser i Palestina.I denna andra upplaga har samtliga kapitel uppdaterats och tre nyskrivna kapitel, som behandlar terrorism, religionens betydelse för konfliktlösning och fred samt fred och säkerhet ur ett jämställdhetsperspektiv, har tillkommit.Freds- och konfliktstudier har en flervetenskaplig karaktär, vilket i boken återspeglas i de olika kapitelbidragen och författarnas akademiska bakgrund. Boken vänder sig till de som är intresserade av frågor om krig och fred samt studenter vid universitet och högskolor som möter ämnet freds- och konfliktstudier för första gången.

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.

This book explores the impact of different civil-military structures on operational effectiveness in complex peace operations. Recent operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia are examples of grand failures to enforce peace and to promote democracy and development through international interventions. A missing variable in analyses of these conflicts hitherto has been the nature of the civil-military interface and its impact. The principal argument of this book is that the civil-military interface should ideally be integrated within the interagency arena as well as within the defence ministry. Such integration has the potential to provide joint civil-military planning and comprehensive approaches to operations. It also creates mutual trust and understanding amongst officers and civil servants from different departments, agencies and units, and thereby, a co-operative interagency culture. For the civil-military interface to function effectively within the chain of command during operations, a co-operative culture of trust is essential. Crucially, structurally and culturally integrated civil-military structures are likely to provide a more balanced view of the functional imperative of the armed forces. The results are armed forces fit for whatever purpose the political leadership decides for them - including complex peace support operations. Empirically, the book applies the theoretical framework to a comparative study of US and British patterns of civil-military relations, their strategic cultures and their operations in Iraq.This book will be of much interest to students of peace operations, civil-military relations, humanitarian intervention, and security studies/IR in general.Robert Egnell is a lecturer in War Studies at the Swedish National Defence College and a senior researcher at the Swedish Defence Research Agency. He was awarded the 2008 Kenneth N. Waltz Dissertation Prize for the best thesis in the field of international security.

This book explores the impact of different civil-military structures on operational effectiveness in complex peace operations. Recent operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia are examples of grand failures to enforce peace and to promote democracy and development through international interventions. A missing variable in analyses of these conflicts hitherto has been the nature of the civil-military interface and its impact. The principal argument of this book is that the civil-military interface should ideally be integrated within the interagency arena as well as within the defence ministry. Such integration has the potential to provide joint civil-military planning and comprehensive approaches to operations. It also creates mutual trust and understanding amongst officers and civil servants from different departments, agencies and units, and thereby, a co-operative interagency culture. For the civil-military interface to function effectively within the chain of command during operations, a co-operative culture of trust is essential. Crucially, structurally and culturally integrated civil-military structures are likely to provide a more balanced view of the functional imperative of the armed forces. The results are armed forces fit for whatever purpose the political leadership decides for them - including complex peace support operations. Empirically, the book applies the theoretical framework to a comparative study of US and British patterns of civil-military relations, their strategic cultures and their operations in Iraq.This book will be of much interest to students of peace operations, civil-military relations, humanitarian intervention, and security studies/IR in general.Robert Egnell is a lecturer in War Studies at the Swedish National Defence College and a senior researcher at the Swedish Defence Research Agency. He was awarded the 2008 Kenneth N. Waltz Dissertation Prize for the best thesis in the field of international security.