Understanding Modern Warfare

by David Jordan, James D. Kiras, David J. Lonsdale, Ian Speller, Christopher Tuck

Overview

Understanding Modern Warfare has established itself as the leading introduction to the issues, ideas, concepts and context necessary to understand the theory and conduct of warfare in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It is an invaluable text for military professionals and students of military history. Key features include: incisive coverage of the debates surrounding contemporary and future warfare; accessible, yet sophisticated, discussion across the land, sea, and air environments; and coverage of contemporary topics such as drones, cyber warfare, and hybrid warfare. The book makes extensive use of text boxes to explain key concepts and to reference extended examples, and it includes annotated guides to further reading and key questions to promote the reader's further thinking. This second edition has been fully revised and updated to take into account new debates and recent events in Syria, Iraq and Ukraine, and it has also been restructured to further improve its usefulness as a teaching tool.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781316489246
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/14/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	20 MB
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About the Author

David Jordan is a Senior Lecturer in the Defence Studies Department at King's College London, and is based at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, Shrivenham, UK. Prior to this, he was a Lecturer in the Department of Modern History at the University of Birmingham. He has been Academic Director for the air power aspects of the Advanced Command and Staff Course, Departmental Director of Teaching, and is currently the Air Warfare Historian to the Higher Command and Staff Course. He is a co-director of the RAF Centre for Air Power Studies, a member of the Chief of the Air Staff's Air Power Workshop and serves on the editorial board for the RAF's Air Power Review.
Dr James D. Kiras is an Associate Professor of Strategic Studies at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Joint Special Operations University, Tampa, Florida. His first book was entitled Special Operations and Strategy: From World War II to the War on Terrorism (2006). Dr Kiras has published extensively on the subjects of irregular warfare, special operations, and terrorism.
David J. Lonsdale is Director of the Centre for Security Studies at the University of Hull. As a lecturer in strategic studies, his main area of research is strategic theory and its application to historical and contemporary strategic settings. His publications include The Nature of War in the Information Age: Clausewitzian Future (2003), Alexander the Great: Lessons in Strategy (2007) and Understanding Contemporary Strategy (2012).
Ian Speller is Senior Lecturer in Military History in the Department of History and Director of the Centre for Military History and Strategic Studies at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. He also lectures at the Irish Military College and has lectured on maritime strategy and naval warfare at the UK Defence Academy and at NATO headquarters in London and Naples. He is the author of Understanding Naval Warfare (2014) and The Role of Amphibious Warfare in British Defence Policy, 1945–56 (2001), and is co-author/editor of Small Navies: Strategy and Policy for Small Navies in War and Peace (2014), Amphibious Warfare: Strategy and Tactics from Gallipoli to Iraq (2014) and The Royal Navy and Maritime Power in the Twentieth Century (2005). In addition to this, he has written numerous scholarly articles on naval history and maritime strategy.
Christopher Tuck is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Defence Studies at King's College London, and is based at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, Shrivenham, UK. Prior to this, he was a lecturer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He is the author of Understanding Land Warfare (2014) and Confrontation, Strategy, and War Termination (2013), co-author of Amphibious Warfare: Strategy and Tactics from Gallipoli to Iraq (2014), and co-editor of British Propaganda and Wars of Empire: Influencing Friend and Foe (2014). He has also published numerous articles and book chapters on topics including military innovation, war termination, counterinsurgency, and amphibious operations.
Dr C. Dale Walton is an Associate Professor of International Relations at Lindenwood University in St Charles, Missouri. He has published three books to date, including Grand Strategy and the Presidency: Foreign Policy, War and the American Role in the World (2012), Geopolitics and the Great Powers in the Twenty-First Century (2009) and The Myth of Inevitable US Defeat in Vietnam (2009).

Table of Contents

Preface; Introduction; Part I. Strategy: 1. The study and theory of strategy; 2. Strategy defined; 3. The practice of strategy; Part II. Land Warfare: 4. Concepts of land warfare; 5. Modern land warfare; 6. Future land warfare; Part III. Naval Warfare: 7. Concepts of naval warfare; 8. The evolution of naval warfare; 9. Naval warfare in the twenty-first century; Part IV. Air and Space Warfare: 10. Concepts and characteristics of air and space warfare; 11. The evolution of air and space power; 12. Air and space power in the contemporary era: 1990–2030; Part V. Irregular Warfare: 13. Key concepts and terms of irregular warfare; 14. The historical practice of irregular warfare; 15. Current irregular warfare; Part VI. Weapons of Mass Destruction: 16. Weapons of mass destruction: radiological, biological, and chemical weapons; 17. Weapons of mass destruction: nuclear weapons; Conclusion; Glossary; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Civilian academics typically and gratefully know next to nothing about real combat. This is why there is a yawning gap in the strategic studies literature on the non-trivial subject of actual warfare. Strategy is conveniently abstract but prospective anticipated tactical performance in the battle spaces on land, at sea, in the air, and now in cyberspaces commonly is mercifully omitted from close scholarly, but very inexpert, attention. Understanding Modern Warfare succeeds in addressing this major deficiency, and it does so even with the inclusion of first-rate analysis provided by the vital context of strategy. This book is one of the very few 'must acquire and read' items for all students of strategic studies."
Colin S. Gray, University of Reading

"Drones, 'transformation', and lethal advancements in technology do not mean contemporary conflict is becoming easier compared to times past; far from it, modern warfare is rife with strategic, political, cultural, and ethical complexity, indeed at all levels. With an engaging thematic approach, Understanding Modern Warfare offers conceptual clarity to what is deceptively complex and too often overlooked by scholars, military professionals, and pundits - the actual conduct of war in our time."
William Thomas Allison, Georgia Southern University

"This is a terrific volume! I wish it had been available for my students when I was Commandant of the National War College. Extremely well written, clear and comprehensive, it addresses both the theory and practice of modern war, including the conflicts of this century. Usefully, each chapter stands alone [and the book includes] very helpful suggestions for further reading - destined to be the standard reference on the subject."
Michael McDevitt, Former Rear Admiral, United States Navy

From the Publisher