Colonial Counterinsurgency in Comparative Perspective

The recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have prompted renewed interest in Britain’s colonial experience of rebellion and state breakdown, while current French interventions in Mali and the Central African Republic have stirred controversy over French military actions in former colonial dependencies, promoting accusations of ‘imperialist humanitarianism’. Yet, in spite of increasing interest in the history of counterinsurgency and empire, we lack comparative studies of colonial responses to armed insurrection, civil disorder, anti-colonial paramilitaries and other irregular forces. The aim of the conference is to address this imbalance by drawing on examples from the British, Dutch, French, and Portuguese empires, as well as case studies from China and Southern Africa.

Organised by Professor Martin Thomas and Dr Gareth Curless, the conference will be hosted by the Centre for War, State and Society and is supported by a University of Exeter HASS Project Development award. The Conference will take place in the Strategy and Security Institute’s Knightley Building and will begin at 9.00am on Thursday 18 September. To register for the conference please visit our online store.