Rethinking Contemporary Warfare

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Rethinking Contemporary Warfare
A Sociological View of the Al-Aqsa Intifada

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Eyal Ben-Ari - Author
Zeev Lerer - Author
Uzi Ben-Shalom - Author
Ariel Vainer - Author

SUNY series in Israeli Studies

Price: $95.00
Hardcover - 212 pages

Release Date: July 2010

ISBN10: 1-4384-3185-6
ISBN13: 978-1-4384-3185-7

Price: $31.95
Paperback - 212 pages

Release Date: July 2011

ISBN10: 1-4384-3184-8
ISBN13: 978-1-4384-3184-0

Available as a Google eBook for other eReaders and tablet devices. Click icon below...

Summary

Examines the combat experience of Israel’s ground forces in the Al-Aqsa Intifada in order to offer a set of innovative concepts for understanding irregular warfare.

The combat experience of Israel’s ground forces in the second Palestinian uprising, the Al-Aqsa Intifada (2000–2006), is given full critical attention in this engaging study. Based on extensive interviews and observations, Rethinking Contemporary Warfare explores the ongoing debate about how the armed forces of industrial democracies wage contemporary military operations. Irregular warfare presents challenges, as routine activities can suddenly turn into violent action, forcing military forces to quickly adapt under the changing circumstances of the conflict. Such “new wars” are a messy reality consisting of high and low intensity conflict, the involvement of media and human rights movements, and the martial administration of civilian populations. Exploring the broad social and organizational features of these militaries, this volume sets forth new analytical tools to understand the peculiarities of irregular warfare in the post–Cold War era. These critical concepts include loose coupling between units, organizations that mediate between ground forces and civilian environments, and the militarization of civilian environments in urban warfare.

“…this study is indeed unique in documenting and analyzing the actual experience of ground troops fighting a low-intensity, messy, local war, and as such it is an interesting read for military sociologists who seek to expand their knowledge on the challenges facing industrial democracies that fight irregular wars.” — Review of Middle East Studies

Eyal Ben-Ari is Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the coeditor (with Edna Lomsky-Feder) of The Military and Militarism in Israeli Society, also published by SUNY Press. Zeev Lerer was formerly Head of Research to the Chief of Staff Advisor on Gender Issues of the Israeli Defense Forces. Uzi Ben-Shalom is Head of Research for the Military Psychology Center at the Ground Forces Command, Israeli Defense Forces. Ariel Vainer is Military Psychologist at the Ground Forces Command, Israeli Defense Forces.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction

2. Methodology, Analysis, Positioning

3. Schoolbook Wars—Textbook Units

4. War on the Frontier: A Hybrid Conflict?

5. The IDF Reacts: Loose Coupling, In-between Organizations, and Organizational Adaptation

6. Swift Trust, Speedy Organizing: Cohesion and Modularity in Military Operations

7. “Tactical Bubbles,” “Civilian Seductions,” and “Three-Block Warfare”: The Military, the City, and Urban Combat

8. The Sociology and Psychology of Contemporary Urban Warfare

9. Technology, Gender, and New Combat Roles: Forces along the Separation Barrier

10.“Human Rights,” “Precision Warfare,” and Violence: Minimizing Casualties and the Al-Aqsa Intifada

11.Conclusion: Social Science, Textbook Units, and the Realities of Contemporary Combat

References
Index

Related Subjects

History
Israel Studies
Political Science
Public Policy
Sociobiology

49527/49528(GD/DG/MC)

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