For both the United States and United Kingdom counterinsurgency was a serious component of security policy during the Cold War and, along with counterterrorism, has been the greatest security challenge after September 11, 2001. In The Soul of Armies, Austin Long compares and contrasts counterinsurgency operations during the Cold War and in recent years by three organizations: the US Army, the US Marine Corps, and the British Army.

Long argues that the formative experiences of these three organizations as they professionalized in the nineteenth century has produced distinctive organizational cultures that shape operations. Combining archival research on counterinsurgency campaigns in Vietnam and Kenya with the author's personal experience as a civilian advisor to the military in Iraq and Afghanistan, The Soul of Armies demonstrates that the US Army has persistently conducted counterinsurgency operations in a very different way from either the US Marine Corps or the British Army. These differences in conduct have serious consequences, affecting the likelihood of success, the potential for civilian casualties and collateral damage, and the ability to effectively support host nation governments. Long concludes counterinsurgency operations are at best only a partial explanation for success or failure.

About the Author

Austin Long is an Assistant Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs and a Member of the Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies and the Harriman Institute for Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies at Columbia University. He was an analyst and advisor to Coalition forces in Iraq (2007-2008) and Afghanistan (2011 and 2013). He is author of On "Other War": Lessons from Five Decades of RAND Counterinsurgency Research.

Reviews

In The Soul of Armies, Dr. Long... explores the question: how does an army's organizational culture impact how it conducts counter-insurgency? Long argues an army's ability to execute a counter-insurgency campaign is rooted in formative experiences during the 19th century. Policymakers, military professionals, and scholars will all gain insights from this book. Long provides cause for introspection by those who variously formulate policy, conduct operations, and study this new way of war. Although Long presents convincing evidence that organizational culture impacts the conduct of counter-insurgency operations, as he points out, the key for successful campaigns must rest beyond organizational culture alone.

-- Colonel Ian C. Rice * Parameters *

Through its wealth of empirical material, it shows not only that culture matters but also how. The Soul of Armies is a must read for all those interested in where the ongoing debate on military culture, and on culture in general, is heading, and it paves the way for a return to the study of culture and of the stickiness of ideas in international politics.

* Perspectives on Politics *



Book Information
ISBN 9781501703195
Author Austin Long
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Cornell University Press
Publisher Cornell University Press
Weight(grams) 454g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 21mm