THE CULTURE AND CONFLICT REVIEW
The Culture & Conflict Review is an online peer-review journal produced by the Program for Culture & Conflict Studies, bringing you analysis of current events, policy, operations, and human terrain in South and Central Asia as well as other regions of the world. Premised on the belief that the United States must understand the culture and human terrain of other nations and peoples, we offer
commentary and analysis on issues of current interest to policy makers, military commanders, academics, and the
general public. We are particularly interested in issues addressing culture, anthropology, regional and identity politics, and the
contemporary role of U.S. forces in areas of conflict. New issues of The Culture & Conflict Review are published on a quarterly
basis.
Welcome to The Culture & Conflict Review
Welcome to the Spring 2012 edition of The Culture and Conflict Review, the start of our sixth year of mapping the cultural contours of today's many complex and asymmetrical conflicts.
Authors featured in this edition include Basil Aboul-Enein, Youssef Aboul-Enein, Thomas H. Johnson, M. Chris Mason, Annpurna Nautiyal, Anoop Nautiyal, Glen Segell and Barry Scott Zellen.
Student thesis authors presented in this issue include Khaldon Haya Al-Rawashdeh, Areigh William Dean, Jarrod J. H. Gillam, Jose Reyes Irizrray, Fazal ur Rehman Khan, Joshua John Lambertus, Matthew S. Larkin, Ned B. Marsh, Raja Shahzad Akram Minhas, James E. Moran, Thomas F. Pavlik and Fernando M. Reyeg.
In this issue, we are pleased to present the following new articles:
Feature Articles
The Arab Spring is a term coined to express the wave of unrest, uprisings, protests, civil wars, regime changes and economic and political reconciliations in the numerous countries with predominant Moslem populations in North Africa, the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula throughout 2010/2011. Despite the tendency to group all the countries under the single term Arab Spring there are unique circumstances. Each country has a unique political system, and each country's society, leaders and armed forces interact and respond with each other in a unique manner; thus the different outcomes in the different countries have been determined by strategic culture.
Earlier this winter, I met with Singapore’s Peter Ho, who long served as head of Singapore’s civil service before retiring last year and who is one of the city-state’s most eloquent and influential intellectual architects. Our meeting came about as part of my new research project on the endurance and evolution of sovereign cities across history, culminating in Singapore’s extraordinary experiment in contemporary sovereignty - modernizing one of mankind's most ancient of sovereign forms and in so doing helping to redefine what sovereignty means in the contemporary world.
Spotlight India: Uttarakhand Election 2012
The assembly elections are around the corner in Uttarakhand and every political party is striving hard to secure its position by wooing the voters through various gimmicks like holding of rallies and public meetings, making opportunistic alliances, announcements and assurances, etc. But the voters’ have different perceptions and it is not simple and easy to gauge their mood. On the one hand, it is very interesting to note that both the national parties have adopted the strategy of denying tickets to a few non-performing cabinet ministers and sitting legislators so that their report card before the voters could be presented as most impeccable. But on the other hand providing tickets to leaders who till this election belonged to other parties and have made these parties a victim of their own political game.
Google the word “leadership” and you get hundreds of links on the subject. Interestingly, almost all links talk about leadership in the corporate sector and almost none about leadership in politics. The five states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur in India are going to the polls and if there ever was a time to exhibit inspirational, ethical and result-oriented leadership in politics, similar to what we see very often in the corporate world, it is now. Politicians cutting across all parties face multiple and complex challenges many of which are typical of a corporate leader. The corporate leader needs to set a vision, communicate that vision, work with multiple stakeholders, articulate goals and motivate his teams. Goals are to be met within set timeframes exhibiting the highest levels of integrity.
Book Reviews: Mapping the Literary Terrain
John Lewis Gaddis is important to students of the Cold War, and for those interested in understanding how the ideas of America’s grand strategy are formulated. He has written several books on the subject of the Cold War, and his latest is a long overdue and extensive biography of George F. Kennan, popularly known as “The Father of Containment.” Kennan did much to provide American leaders with the ideas and language to address moves from the Communist world generally and subsequent Soviet premiers from Joseph Stalin to Mikhail Gorbachev.
The broad and historical significance of the Arab sieges of Constantinople is of incredible importance. It can be ranked as more significant than even the Battle of Tours in 732 A.D. The Byzantine victory over the Arab Muslim forces was the first major defeat that the Arabs had experienced since the Arab explosion onto the world stage almost four decades earlier. Both the Arab Muslim failures to take Constantinople and the Muslim defeats in southern France by the Franks are considered primary factors that led to the weakness of the Umayyad dynasty and of the Arab caliphate. Since al-Qaida makes use of fragments of Islamic history, it is vital that we understand the details that al-Qaida misses, when they weave their militant Islamist historic narrative.
Student Theses on Culture & Conflict
We are also very pleased to share with you some new student theses exploring the nexus of culture and conflict, the cultural roots of insurgency, and contemporary methods for waging counterinsurgency.
Culture & Conflict in the Islamic World
The cost-benefit equation of the Pak-US alliance, in the fight against terrorism, reflects a direct correlation between the fluctuating patterns of US assistance and their direct and indirect implications for Pakistan. While the US strives to achieve a better return on its investment through military-oriented support, Pakistan seeks to adopt an approach that suits both the US and its own domestic and regional interests. This research traces the trend of Pak-US relations, highlights the impact of the fluctuating US aid in shaping perceptions, and provides a game-theoretical analysis on the issue.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has found the volatile, ungoverned environment of Yemen a welcome area in which to recruit, equip, train, and conduct operations. The United States has focused on eradicating AQAP since the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). To delineate which COIN practices may work best, an investigation of past COIN campaigns was conducted. Malaya, Nicaragua, and Somalia were chosen to provide the basis for three courses of action: working with the government, circumventing the government and working directly with the tribes, and assisting in the state failure. While all three courses of action have merit, only the third course of action addresses the root causes of the problems in Yemen.
The current Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan has multiple funding sources. The importance of the opium production and smuggling has been touted as essential to the continuation of the Taliban insurgency in today's media. This thesis aims to understand the true value of the opium trade to the Taliban and to explore alternative revenue sources for the Taliban both inside and from outside of Afghanistan and whether the opium trade is essential to sustain the current level of activity by the insurgency. It aims to demonstrate that efforts to interdict opium trafficking should not be the coalition's main focus, as only successful training and implementation of local competent security forces will affect the funding revenue from both narcotics and the myriad of other illicit sources.
Culture & Conflict in Southeast Asia
The Filipino Way of War is the dominant irregular warfare strategy executed by the Filipino warrior throughout the centuries. Armed with severely limited resources, a strong fighting spirit, and deep traditions, the Filipino warrior has always had to look for another method of warfare other than direct and total war. This has led to the indirect path, the path of irregular warfare. This tradition, built upon a foundation of tribal warfare, shaped by resistance to Spanish and American colonization, and honed during the guerrilla campaign against the Japanese occupation, has emerged in the modern era as the predominant Filipino military strategy. Entering the 21st century, both government and anti-government forces have recalled their traditions and experiences and predominantly used irregular warfare strategies, often through unconventional warfare, insurgency, or special ops.
Shortly after Marine forces landed in Vietnam in March, 1965, leaders in the field began experimenting with pacification /combined action. Their Combined Action Program (CAP) is viewed by many as one of the only successful pacification programs conducted in South Vietnam. It combined a squad of Marines and a platoon of South Vietnamese Popular Forces to assist villages in resisting Viet Cong influence. By combining forces and living inside the villages, the Marines believed they could win the "hearts and minds" of the villagers. What they accomplished by chance should not be lost to history but should be studied within the context of established social influence theory, so future operations may benefit from their experience. This study views CAP through a lens of the science of social influence, and its analysis provides insight into which social influence tactics can be applied during COIN operations. Culture & Conflict in the Digital Era
Recent confrontations with networked opponents have strained the U.S. military, and produced time-intensive, brutally complex, and costly irregular warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan. The challenges these fighting networks present require a close examination of how they fight, and most importantly, how to combat the threat they pose. Countering these opponents requires a detailed understanding of the organization, doctrine, methods and information usage which both empower networks and generate vulnerabilities. This research generated a theoretical framework that draws on network theory, network-based operations, irregular warfare, organizational theory, and information strategy. Comparative case studies focus on Chechen separatists, Lebanese Hezbollah, and Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
DoD is making significant strides to develop and deploy unmanned vehicles in a variety of environments. The Secretary of the Navy is sponsoring a new program, Consortium for Robotics and Unmanned Systems Education and Research ("CRUSER"), at the Naval Postgraduate School to enhance the ability to address unmanned vehicle research in a systematic manner. This thesis finds that unmanned vehicles are best deployed in conventional conflicts, and that they have more limited and problematic uses in irregular warfare and COIN operations. Their combination of autonomy and lethality is found to work best when limited to the targeting of an enemy's weapons systems and aircraft in highly scripted environments rather than enemy combatants and personnel themselves.
CCS in the News
As well, we are pleased to share with you recent news coverage of our founder and director, Thomas H. Johnson, and the ongoing research efforts of CCS since our previous edition went to press:
Video & Audio Appearances:
Analysis & Commentary:
- The Fog of Peace, Thomas H. Johnson and M. Chris Mason, The AfPak Channel, ForeignPolicy.com, January 18, 2012
CCS Books:
Winter Edition
- In case you missed our Winter 2011/2012 edition (Volume 5, Issue 4), we are pleased to present a link for your convenience: Volume 5, #4 - Fall 2011.
- Article sections include: Feature Articles, Viewpoints, Book Reviews: Mapping the Literary Terrain, and CCS News.
- Authors featured in the Winter edition include: Youssef Aboul-Enein, David A. Anderson, Larry Goodson, Thomas H. Johnson, Joseph Yuanfeng Lin, Tridivesh Singh Maini, M. Chris Mason, Annpurna Nautiyal, and Barry S. Zellen.
Preview: Upcoming Summer 2012 Edition
Culture & Conflict in the Nuclear Age
Culture & Conflict in Post-Saddam Iraq
Sponsorship Opportunities
As our work continues to evolve and expand, we are welcoming new sponsors to join us in our efforts:
We hope you enjoy our latest edition of The Culture and Conflict Review.
Thank you as always for your continuing interest in our work!
We'll see you next time!
The Culture & Conflict Review is produced by:
- CCS Founder & Executive Director
- Editor-in-Chief
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