Why Paramilitary Operations Fail

This book analyzes U.S. pro-insurgency paramilitary operations (PMOs) or U.S. proxy warfare from the beginning of the Cold War to the present and explains why many of these operations either failed entirely to achieve their objective, or why they produced negative consequences that greatly diminished their benefits. The chapters cover important aspects of what PMOs are, the history of U.S. PMOs, how they function, the dilemmas of secrecy and accountability, the issues of control, criminal conduct, and disposal of proxies, as well as newer developments that may change PMOs in the future. The author argues that the general approach of conducting PMOs as covert operations is inherently flawed since it tends to undermine many possibilities for control over proxies in a situation where the interests of sponsors and proxies necessarily diverge on key issues.  

List of contents

1. What Are Paramilitary Operations?.- 2. A Short History of U.S. Paramilitary Operations.- 3. Conducting Paramilitary Operations.- 4. Dilemmas of Secrecy.- 5. Accountability in Paramilitary Operations.- 6. Critical Loss of Control.- 7. War Crimes and Criminal Conduct.- 8. Endgames and Outcomes.- 9. The Disposal Problem.- 10. New Developments.

About the author

Armin Krishnan is Assistant Professor and Director of the Security Studies Program at East Carolina University, USA.

Summary

This book analyzes U.S. pro-insurgency paramilitary operations (PMOs) or U.S. proxy warfare from the beginning of the Cold War to the present and explains why many of these operations either failed entirely to achieve their objective, or why they produced negative consequences that greatly diminished their benefits. The chapters cover important aspects of what PMOs are, the history of U.S. PMOs, how they function, the dilemmas of secrecy and accountability, the issues of control, criminal conduct, and disposal of proxies, as well as newer developments that may change PMOs in the future. The author argues that the general approach of conducting PMOs as covert operations is inherently flawed since it tends to undermine many possibilities for control over proxies in a situation where the interests of sponsors and proxies necessarily diverge on key issues.  

Product details

• Authors: Armin Krishnan
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.01.2019
• EAN: 9783030100858
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3010085-8
• No. of pages: 254
• Dimensions: 148 mm x 209 mm x 16 mm
• Weight: 359 g
• Illustrations: XVII, 254 p. 5 illus., 1 illus. in color.
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Comparative and international political science; Amerika, B, Peace, Krieg und Verteidigung, Politik und Staat, Conflict Studies, Political Science, Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, International Relations, foreign policy, Politics & government, Warfare & defence, auseinandersetzen, Political Science and International Studies, United States of America, USA, International Relations Theory, Peace studies & conflict resolution, International Security Studies, Security, International, Politics and war, Military and Defence Studies, US Politics, United States—Politics and government