A National Force
A National Force

Author: Peter Kasurak

Publisher: UBC Press

Published: 2013-11-01

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 0774826428

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Canadians consider the period between the Second World War and the unification of the armed services in 1968 as a “golden age,” a time when their army dropped the shackles of its imperial past and emerged as a truly national peacekeeping force. In this landmark book, Peter Kasurak draws on recently declassified documents to show that this era was in fact clouded by the army’s failure to loosen the grasp of British army culture, produce its own doctrine, and advise political leaders effectively. The discrepancy between the army’s goals and the Canadian state’s aspirations as a peacemaker in the postwar world resulted in a series of civilian-military crises that ended only when the scandal of the Somalia Affair in 1993 forced reform. Kasurak offers an illuminating account of the organizational growing pains that wracked the Canada’s army as it evolved into a force that could reflect the aspirations of both its country and military leadership.

American Force
American Force

Author: Richard K. Betts

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2011-12-06

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 023152188X

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While American national security policy has grown more interventionist since the Cold War, Washington has also hoped to shape the world on the cheap. Misled by the stunning success against Iraq in 1991, administrations of both parties have pursued ambitious aims with limited force, committing the country's military frequently yet often hesitantly, with inconsistent justification. These ventures have produced strategic confusion, unplanned entanglements, and indecisive results. This collection of essays by Richard K. Betts, a leading international politics scholar, investigates the use of American force since the end of the Cold War, suggesting guidelines for making it more selective and successful. Betts brings his extensive knowledge of twentieth century American diplomatic and military history to bear on the full range of theory and practice in national security, surveying the Cold War roots of recent initiatives and arguing that U.S. policy has always been more unilateral than liberal theorists claim. He exposes mistakes made by humanitarian interventions and peace operations; reviews the issues raised by terrorism and the use of modern nuclear, biological, and cyber weapons; evaluates the case for preventive war, which almost always proves wrong; weighs the lessons learned from campaigns in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam; assesses the rise of China and the resurgence of Russia; quells concerns about civil-military relations; exposes anomalies within recent defense budgets; and confronts the practical barriers to effective strategy. Betts ultimately argues for greater caution and restraint, while encouraging more decisive action when force is required, and he recommends a more dispassionate assessment of national security interests, even in the face of global instability and unfamiliar threats.

A National Force
A National Force

Author: Peter Charles Kasurak

Publisher: UBC Press

Published: 2013-11

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 077482641X

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This landmark book dispels the idea that the period between the Second World War and the unification of the armed services in 1968 constituted the Canadian Army's "golden age." Drawing on recently declassified documents, Peter Kasurak depicts an era clouded by the military leadership's failure to loosen the grasp of British army culture, produce its own doctrine, and advise political leaders effectively. The discrepancy between the army's goals and the Canadian state's aspirations as a peacemaker in the postwar world resulted in a series of civilian-military crises that ended only when the scandal of the Somalia Affair in 1993 forced reform.

The Armed Forces Officer
The Armed Forces Officer

Author: Richard Moody Swain

Publisher: Government Printing Office

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 9780160937583

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In 1950, when he commissioned the first edition of The Armed Forces Officer, Secretary of Defense George C. Marshall told its author, S.L.A. Marshall, that "American military officers, of whatever service, should share common ground ethically and morally." In this new edition, the authors methodically explore that common ground, reflecting on the basics of the Profession of Arms, and the officer's special place and distinctive obligations within that profession and especially to the Constitution.

Deterring Terrorism
Deterring Terrorism

Author: Andreas Wenger

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2012-09-19

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 0804783470

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During the Cold War, deterrence theory was the cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, however, popular wisdom dictated that terrorist organizations and radical fanatics could not be deterred—and governments shifted their attention to combating terrorism rather than deterring it. This book challenges that prevailing assumption and offers insight as to when and where terrorism can be deterred. It first identifies how and where theories of deterrence apply to counterterrorism, highlighting how traditional and less-traditional notions of deterrence can be applied to evolving terrorist threats. It then applies these theoretical propositions to real-world threats to establish the role deterrence has within a dynamic counterterrorism strategy—and to identify how metrics can be created for measuring the success of terrorism deterrence strategies. In sum, it provides a foundation for developing effective counterterrorism policies to help states contain or curtail the terrorism challenges they face.

Force and Freedom
Force and Freedom

Author: Kellie Carter Jackson

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2020-08-14

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 0812224701

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From its origins in the 1750s, the white-led American abolitionist movement adhered to principles of "moral suasion" and nonviolent resistance as both religious tenet and political strategy. But by the 1850s, the population of enslaved Americans had increased exponentially, and such legislative efforts as the Fugitive Slave Act and the Supreme Court's 1857 ruling in the Dred Scott case effectively voided any rights black Americans held as enslaved or free people. As conditions deteriorated for African Americans, black abolitionist leaders embraced violence as the only means of shocking Northerners out of their apathy and instigating an antislavery war. In Force and Freedom, Kellie Carter Jackson provides the first historical analysis exclusively focused on the tactical use of violence among antebellum black activists. Through rousing public speeches, the bourgeoning black press, and the formation of militia groups, black abolitionist leaders mobilized their communities, compelled national action, and drew international attention. Drawing on the precedent and pathos of the American and Haitian Revolutions, African American abolitionists used violence as a political language and a means of provoking social change. Through tactical violence, argues Carter Jackson, black abolitionist leaders accomplished what white nonviolent abolitionists could not: creating the conditions that necessitated the Civil War. Force and Freedom takes readers beyond the honorable politics of moral suasion and the romanticism of the Underground Railroad and into an exploration of the agonizing decisions, strategies, and actions of the black abolitionists who, though lacking an official political voice, were nevertheless responsible for instigating monumental social and political change.

"Ruck it Up!"

Author: Charles Edward Kirkpatrick

Publisher: U.S. Government Printing Office

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 694

ISBN-13:

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?The transformation of V Corps from a traditional tank-heavy corps committed to a high intensity battle in central Europe to a lighter, more deployable reaction force simply based in central Europe is an exemplar of the changes that confronted the army at large to be sustained. This narrative outlines the major shifts in the operational context in which V Corps found itself after 1990 and discusses the major military operations in which the corps took part. Those operations gave the headquarters the essential "feedback" to adjust its organization and training to be more in synch with the requirements it faced. The study offers some tentative conclusions about the process of transformation of the Army in Europe, as seen from the perspective of one heavy, mechanized corps.