Transformation or Back to Basics? Counter-Insurgency Pugilism and Peacebuilding Judo

34 Pages Posted: 27 Jun 2014

See all articles by David M. Last

David M. Last

Royal Military College of Canada - Department of Political Science

Date Written: June 8, 2007

Abstract

Writing on the Revolution in Military Affairs exhibits the characteristics of an intellectual fad. In contrast, there is some continuity to peacekeeping and counter-insurgency writing. Both late twentieth century and late nineteenth century counter-insurgency literature is set against a background of globalization and neoliberal expansion, but recent thinking has a serious gap in that it tends to isolate security from its political, economic and social contexts. In fact, this is not a new phenomenon, but follows four consistent threads of security thinking in the West. Getting back to basics, we need a model for the social context in which violence occurs, and I find this in development theory and the work of the World Bank. Knowing how violence relates to social cohesion leads to deductions about globalization, urbanization, and the resurgence of primitive warfare — three trends with which security transformation must come to terms. I conclude with six seeds for the transformation of military capacity to stabilize and manage violence, but the heart of the argument is that it starts with an understanding of the social context of violence. We must work with the forces of social capital and social cohesion, not seek out enemies to punch into submission.

Keywords: Military, insurgency, globalization

JEL Classification: N4, K00, I28

Suggested Citation

Last, David M., Transformation or Back to Basics? Counter-Insurgency Pugilism and Peacebuilding Judo (June 8, 2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2459238 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2459238

David M. Last (Contact Author)

Royal Military College of Canada - Department of Political Science ( email )

P.O. Box 17,000, Station Forces
Kingston, ON K7K 7B4
Canada

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