Hearts and Minds: A People's History of Counterinsurgency
The first book of its kind, Hearts and Minds is a scathing response to the grand narrative of U.S. counterinsurgency, in which warfare is defined not by military might alone but by winning the "hearts and minds" of civilians. Dormant as a tactic since the days of the Vietnam War, in 2006 the U.S. Army drafted a new field manual heralding the resurrection of counterinsurgency as a primary military engagement strategy; counterinsurgency campaigns followed in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite the fact that counterinsurgency had utterly failed to account for the actual lived experiences of the people whose hearts and minds America had sought to win.

Drawing on leading thinkers in the field and using key examples from Malaya, the Philippines, Vietnam, El Salvador, Iraq, and Afghanistan, Hearts and Minds brings a long-overdue focus on the many civilians caught up in these conflicts. Both urgent and timely, this important book challenges the idea of a neat divide between insurgents and the populations from which they emerge—and should be required reading for anyone engaged in the most important contemporary debates over U.S. military policy.
1114683884
Hearts and Minds: A People's History of Counterinsurgency
The first book of its kind, Hearts and Minds is a scathing response to the grand narrative of U.S. counterinsurgency, in which warfare is defined not by military might alone but by winning the "hearts and minds" of civilians. Dormant as a tactic since the days of the Vietnam War, in 2006 the U.S. Army drafted a new field manual heralding the resurrection of counterinsurgency as a primary military engagement strategy; counterinsurgency campaigns followed in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite the fact that counterinsurgency had utterly failed to account for the actual lived experiences of the people whose hearts and minds America had sought to win.

Drawing on leading thinkers in the field and using key examples from Malaya, the Philippines, Vietnam, El Salvador, Iraq, and Afghanistan, Hearts and Minds brings a long-overdue focus on the many civilians caught up in these conflicts. Both urgent and timely, this important book challenges the idea of a neat divide between insurgents and the populations from which they emerge—and should be required reading for anyone engaged in the most important contemporary debates over U.S. military policy.
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Hearts and Minds: A People's History of Counterinsurgency

Hearts and Minds: A People's History of Counterinsurgency

Hearts and Minds: A People's History of Counterinsurgency

Hearts and Minds: A People's History of Counterinsurgency

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Overview

The first book of its kind, Hearts and Minds is a scathing response to the grand narrative of U.S. counterinsurgency, in which warfare is defined not by military might alone but by winning the "hearts and minds" of civilians. Dormant as a tactic since the days of the Vietnam War, in 2006 the U.S. Army drafted a new field manual heralding the resurrection of counterinsurgency as a primary military engagement strategy; counterinsurgency campaigns followed in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite the fact that counterinsurgency had utterly failed to account for the actual lived experiences of the people whose hearts and minds America had sought to win.

Drawing on leading thinkers in the field and using key examples from Malaya, the Philippines, Vietnam, El Salvador, Iraq, and Afghanistan, Hearts and Minds brings a long-overdue focus on the many civilians caught up in these conflicts. Both urgent and timely, this important book challenges the idea of a neat divide between insurgents and the populations from which they emerge—and should be required reading for anyone engaged in the most important contemporary debates over U.S. military policy.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781595588258
Publisher: New Press, The
Publication date: 10/01/2013
Series: New Press People's History
Pages: 304
Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Hannah Gurman is an assistant professor at New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She writes on the politics, economics, and culture of U.S. diplomacy and military conflict for Salon, the Huffington Post, and Foreign Policy in Focus, among other publications. She is the author of The Dissent Papers: The Voices of Diplomats in the Cold War and Beyond. She lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction Hannah Gurman 1

1 Malaya-Between Two Terrors: "People's History" and the Malayan Emergency Karl Hack 17

2 The Philippines-"Engendering" Counterinsurgency: The Battle to Win the Hearts and Minds of Women During the Huk Rebellion in the Philippines Vina A. Lanzona 50

3 Vietnam-Uprooting the Revolution: Counterinsurgency in Vietnam Hannah Gurman 77

4 El Salvador-The Creation of the Internal Enemy: Pondering the Legacies of U.S. Anticommunism, Counterinsurgency, and Authoritarianism in El Salvador (1952-81) Joaquín M. Chávez 104

5 Iraq, Part I-Counterinsurgency in Iraq Rick Rowley 135

6 Iraq, Part II-February 2006-December 2012: New Allies, Old Tactics David Enders 158

7 Afghanistan, Part I-"You Have to Not Mind Killing Innocents": American COIN Operations in Afghanistan and the Violence of Empire Jeremy Kuzmarov 181

8 Afghanistan, Part II-Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan: Myth or Reality? Jean MacKenzie 200

Notes 227

About the Contributors 271

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