The Accidental Guerrilla
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$27.95 (02)Description
David Kilcullen is one of the world's most influential experts on counterinsurgency and modern warfare. A Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor to General David Petraeus in Iraq, his vision of war dramatically influenced America's decision to rethink its military strategy in Iraq and implement "the surge."Now, in The Accidental Guerrilla , Kilcullen provides a remarkably fresh perspective on the War on Terror. Kilcullen takes us "on the ground" to uncover the face of modern warfare, illuminating both the big global war (the "War on Terrorism") and its relation to the associated "small wars" across the globe: Iraq, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Chechnya, Pakistan and North Africa. Kilcullen sees today's conflicts as a complex pairing of contrasting trends: local social networks and worldwide movements; traditional and postmodern culture; local insurgencies seeking autonomy and a broader pan-Islamic campaign. He warns that America's actions in the war on terrorism have tended to conflate these trends, blurring the distinction between local and global struggles and thus enormously complicating our challenges. Indeed, the US had done a poor job of applying different tactics to these very different situations, continually misidentifying insurgents with limited aims and legitimate grievances (whom he calls "accidental guerrillas") as part of a coordinated worldwide terror network. We must learn how to disentangle these strands, develop strategies that deal with global threats, avoid local conflicts where possible, and win them where necessary.
Colored with gripping battlefield experiences that range from the jungles and highlands of Southeast Asia to the mountains of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to the dusty towns of the Middle East, The Accidental Guerrilla will, quite simply, change the way we think about war. This much anticipated book will be a must read for everyone concerned about the war on terror.
Features
- Author platform: David Kilcullen is renowned for his expertise on counterinsurgency and has strong media contacts and experience. He is often quoted in the press, been the subject of a full-length feature article in The New Yorker , and was interviewed for a full hour by Charlie Rose in 2007. We can expect similar media attention for this book.
- Informed by the author's first-hand experiences as a soldier, counterinsurgency expert, and lead advisor to General David Petraeus in Iraq, this book is not only very interesting, but also eminently readable.
- Provides a timely, groundbreaking perspective on the "War on Terror," focusing not only on Iraq and Afghanistan, but other terrorist hotbeds such as Africa, Pakistan, and Indonesia.
- Kilcullen holds a doctorate in political anthropology.
Reviews
"For a wider perspective on the lessons drawn over the past seven years of the 'war on terror', the reader can do no better than turn to Mr Kilcullen's excellent book. The Accidental Guerrilla has an anthropologist's sense of social dynamics and a reporter's eye for telling detail. If T.E. Lawrence evoked the means of waging irregular warfare in his 1926 classic, 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom', Mr Kilcullen describes the practitioner's art of combating insurgents."-The Economist
"This book should be required reading for every American soldier, as well as anyone involved in the war on terror. Kilcullen's central concept of the 'accidental guerrilla' is brilliant and the policy prescriptions that flow from it important. And that's not all; the book has many more insights drawn from various battlefields."--Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek
"Kilcullen's compelling argument merits wide attention."--Publishers Weekly Starred Review
"David Kilcullen, man of action and man of ideas, has produced a rare--and indispensible--guide to understanding and winning the so-called "war on terror" by combining ideas of military theory with those of culture and tradition among tribal peoples."--Professor Akbar Ahmed, Chair of Islamic Studies, American University, Washington DC.
"Kilcullen's book is about more than the accidental guerrilla...it is about a global insurgency and how to deal with it.... A fine book."--The New Criterion
"Kilcullen's ideas... are likely to shape U.S. policy in Iraq and Afghanistan for the immediate future."--Laura Miller, Salon.com
"The Accidental Guerrilla is a master class in counterinsurgency from a man who, as much as anyone, is responsible for recent successes in Iraq."--he Boston Globe
"Kilcullen's influence on how the U.S. military thought about counterinsurgency campaigning cannot be overstated."--Tom Ricks, author of The Gamble
"There are some standard texts on [counterinsurgency]. The Accidental Guerrilla is sure to become one."--The Wall Street Journal
"This book is essential.... Kilcullen skillfully interprets the future of counterinsurgency, the proper use of military force and what we must learn from our losses and mistakes. After reading The Accidental Guerrilla , one is left to wonder why the Pentagon did not listen to his sage advice back in 2003."--New York Times Book Review
"Kilcullen's book is altogether [] substantial, with analyses, prescriptions and admonitions derived from the study of Islamist violence from England to Thailand, and more largely from the author's varied personal experiences as an observer, combatant and adviser in Timor, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as in the innermost corridors of power, both civil and uniformed. ... [H]e tells many good stories and his analysis is never less than rigorous, and also properly set in the relevant political contexts."--The Times Literary Supplement
About the Author(s)
David Kilcullen is at once part of General David Petraeus' brain trust in Baghdad, an Australian anthropologist, a Pentagon-based counterinsurgency theorist, and an on-the-ground officer/military advisor who has worked in hotspots ranging from East Africa to the Javanese highlands to the jungles of the Philippines. The "go-to guy" for journalists when it comes to counterinsurgency, he was interviewed for a full-hour on Charlie Rose , was the subject of a full-length profile in the New Yorker written by George Packer, and he's quoted frequently in The New York Times . David Kilcullen is a senior fellow at the EastWest Institute.
