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Disrupting Western Hegemony: Insurgency and Counterinsurgency Post-WWII

Module description

This module will provide you with a strong foundation in the conceptual, historical, strategic, operational, organisational and ethical issues associated with “counterinsurgency warfare”. Whilst looking at in-depth historical and more recent case studies of counterinsurgencies , this module will enable you to problematise and assess from a critical security perspective the extent to which counterinsurgencies have been used by Western powers and their allies to maintain their hegemonic influence and power around the globe, and, in the Global South in particular.

This module will  enable you to explore the evolutionary phases of insurgency and counterinsurgency from the Maoist version of the “people’s war” in China to the development of global jihad. The module will particularly focus on how Western and Western-backed foreign states have often been employed military force to re-establish or maintain racialised and neo-colonial practices of hegemonic order within the societies in which counterinsurgencies have been carried out.

No pre-requisite or co-requisite modules are required in order to register for this module. However, it would useful for you to have a basic knowledge of twentieth century conflict and diplomatic history, as this will comprise some of the case study subject matter and background information that will be discussed in the module’s seminars. However, such knowledge is not vital as background readings will be provided for all of the cases examined. In any case, this module is suitable for both specialist and non-specialist students who are interested in studying counterinsurgency from an interdisciplinary and critical security perspective, thus, rendering it suitable for interdisciplinary pathways.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module will provide you with:

• A comprehensive understanding of the conceptual issues associated with the definition and study of insurgency and counterinsurgency.
• An awareness of the competing theories and practices of counterinsurgency.
• A critical understanding of the kinds of strategic, operational and ethical effects produced by counterinsurgency campaigns and practices.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the nature of counterinsurgency and its enduring as well as evolving features;
• 2. demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the developing characteristics of the Western way of counterinsurgency warfare and its effect on those challenging Western and Neo-Liberal hegemony;
• 3. demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of the growing asymmetric challenges confronted by Western states and the way that these have reacted to such challenges from the strategic, operational, and ethical perspectives.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. display a critical understanding of the nature of counterinsurgency operations, and their role in past and contemporary conflicts;
• 5. exercise informed judgement about change and continuity of counterinsurgency campaigns.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. study independently and manage time and assessment deadlines effectively;
• 7. communicate effectively in speech and writing;
• 8. demonstrate critical and analytical skills through tutorial discussions and module assessments;
• 9. demonstrate proficiency in the use of the internet, online journal databases and other IT resources for the purposes of tutorial and assessment preparation.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover for example the following topics:

• Definitions of insurgency and counterinsurgency;
• Classic theories of insurgency/guerrilla war;
• Classic theories of counterinsurgency;
• Historical and contemporary case studies of insurgency/counterinsurgency campaigns.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Bachmann, J. et al. (Eds.) War, Police and Assemblages of Intervention (Routledge, 2014).
• Kassimeris, G (ed.) Warrior's Dishonour: Barbarity, Morality and Torture in Modern Warfare (Routledge, 2014).
• Barkawi, T. Globalization and War (Rowman and Littlefield, 2006).
• Beckett, I. Modern Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies: Guerrillas and their Opponents since 1750 (Routledge, 2001).
• Black, J. Insurgency and counterinsurgency [electronic resource]: a global history (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016).
• Catignani, S. Israeli counterinsurgency and the Intifadas: dilemmas of a conventional army (London: Routledge, 2008).
• Cordell, K. & Wolff, S. Ethnic conflict: causes, consequences, and responses (Cambridge: Polity, 2009/2010).
• Farrell, T. The Norms of War: Cultural Beliefs and Modern Conflict (Lynne Rienner, 2005).
• Farrell, T. and Terriff, T. The Sources of Military Change: Culture, Politics, Technology (Lynne Rienner, 2002).
• Gross, M.L. The ethics of insurgency: a critical guide to just guerrilla warfare (Cambridge: CUP, 2015).
• Hughes, M. British Ways of Counter-insurgency: A Historical Perspective (Routledge, 2013).
• Jones, C. and Catignani, S. Israel and Hizbollah: an asymmetric conflict in historical and comparative perspective (London: Routledge, 2010).
• Kaldor, M. New Wars and Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global Era (Polity, 2006).
• Khalili, L. Time in the Shadows: Confinement in Counterinsurgencies (Stanford University Press, 2012).
• Kinsey, C. and Patterson, M.H. Contractors and War: The Transformation of United States' Expeditionary Operations (Stanford University Press, 2012).
• Porter, P. Military Orientalism: Eastern War through Western Eyes (Hurst, 2009).
• Rabi, U. International intervention in local conflicts: crisis management and conflict resolution since the Cold War (London: Tauris, 2010).
• Rich, P.B. and Duyvesteyn I. The Routledge handbook of insurgency and counterinsurgency [electronic resource] (New York: Routledge, 2012).
• Rich, P.B. Cinema and Unconventional Warfare in the Twentieth Century: Insurgency, Terrorism and Special Operations (Bloomsbury, 2018).
• Schivone, G.M. Making The New "Illegal": How Decades of US Involvement in Central America Triggered the Modern Wave of Immigration (Prometheus, 2018).
• Shaw, M. The New Western Way of War: Risk-Transfer War and its Crisis in Iraq (Polity, 2005).
• Smith, R. The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World (Allen Lane, 2005).
• Sylvester, C. War as Experience: Contributions from International Relations and Feminist Analysis (Abingdon: Routledge, 2013).
• Von Clausewitz, C. On War. Edited and translated by Michael Howard and Peter Paret. (Princeton University Press, 1976).
• Whittaker, D. J. (ed.), The Terrorism Reader 3rd edition (London: Routledge 2007).

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy: https://centreforfeministforeignpolicy.org/
• Complex Terrain Laboratory: http://www.terraplexic.org/
• Consortium on Gender, Security & Human Rights: https://genderandsecurity.org/
• Costs of War Project, https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/
• Stockholm International Peace Research Institute: http://www.sipri.org/
• Combating Terrorism Centre (Westpoint): http://ctc.usma.edu/sentinel/
• UK Defence Academy: http://www.da.mod.uk/podcasts
• ‘MERLIN’ US National Defence University: http://merln.ndu.edu/
• US Institute of Peace: http://www.usip.org/
• Institute for War and Peace Reporting: http://www.iwpr.org
• US Army War College: http://www.carlisle.army.mil/
• International Studies Association web resources: http://www.isanet.org/links/
• US Naval Postgraduate School: http://www.nps.edu/
• RAND Corps: http://www.rand.org/
• Center for Strategic and International Studies: http://csis.org/
• Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies: http://www.rusi.org
• Chatham House (Royal Institute for International Affairs): http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk
• International Institute for Strategic Studies: http://www.iiss.org
• Brookings Institute: http://www.brookings.edu/
• Bitter Lemons: http://www.bitterlemons.org/
• Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies: http://www.ciss.ca/
• Centre for Defence Information: http://www.cdi.org/
• CIA Factbook: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
• Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/
• International Crisis Group: http://www.icg.org/home/index.cfm
• Peace Pledge Union: https://www.ppu.org.uk/
• Rand Corporation: http://www.rand.org/
• The Costs of War Project: https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

Other materials and resources will be identified by the module convener in lectures and via ELE and by tutors in tutorials.

Key words search

Insurgency, counterinsurgency, guerrilla warfare, terrorism, hegemony, racism, neo-colonialism