Essays on Counterinsurgency

The paper provides reading response of two studies entitled as “Taming the Jungle, Saving the Maya Forest: Sedimented Counterinsurgency Practices in Contemporary Guatemalan” written by Megan Yabrra and “Bio-ironies of the Fractured Forest: India's Tiger Reserves” by Paul Greenough. Megan Yabrra conducted a study to identify the importance of historically sedimented military practice for protection in the contemporary Guatemala. The author argues that the military has tamped dangerous jungles for managing its counterinsurgency campaigns. The military has used forest and jungle discourses for achieving success in their territorial projects. The author argues that the use of jungle has violated ...

The issue of conservation has been dominating the agenda of environmentalists in the recent decades, and the two articles under consideration provide insights into adverse and side effects of forest conservation and establishment of biosphere reserves. Generally, Paul Greenough discusses advantages and flaws of biosphere reserves and protected area networks that have been a crucial purpose of conservationists. The author argues that enclosing new territories of forests into protected areas and reserves allows not only for survival of animal and plant species but also for blossoming criminal activity. Providing examples of Mexican biosphere reserves and India’s Project Tiger ...

Introduction

This historiographical essay relies on the works of six authors to discuss the nature of guerrilla warfare and its implications on political, social and economic stabilities of the nations in Latin America. The articles address aspects of terror acts carried out by both insurgents and regimes to engage each other. The historiographical essay is also important in using historical accounts from articles to discuss the factors that contributed to success of revolutionary wars in nations such as Cuba and Nicaragua. The approach taken by the essay is chronologically reviewing by year of publication, what different authors wrote on the ...

In the midst of the Cold War era, both the U.S and U.S.S.R engaged one another in proxy wars in regions throughout the world to further their respective expansionist national agendas while counteracting the geo-political influence of one another. Proxy wars are conflicts contained within third party nations or regions which are instigated by the influence of major geopolitical powers who do not themselves become directly involved in the conflict. Thus, proxy wars are facilitated by major powers to preserve and expand their geopolitical influence through promoting or opposing certain armed factions within a regional conflict which in turn ...

Introduction

Socrates once declared that the fundamental rule, which most need to follow is in regard to national character. This statement that for every group that makes a nation, it must create it’s own character, lack of this thereof means that the people must start embracing one (Moulioukova 2011, p. 3). Scholars studying the concept of identity and its relation to foreign policy is one that has been donebefore, however, more research is needed and gaps that had been present in previously available literature be addressed. Altoraifi (2012, p. 27) explains that foreign policy and national identity cannot afford ...

Introduction

Counterinsurgency refers to any efforts initiated by either civilians or governments; that are geared towards quelling or thwarting an uprising or a guerilla insurgency within a given jurisdiction. Since many insurgencies present very novel circumstances; it is imperative that the counterinsurgents are appraised with these situations and that they adjust to the given situation accordingly. The process of seeking a thorough understanding of the processes of the adverse party and conforming to the newly tailored measures of countering these processes is what is prominently referred to as learning and adaptability. Here is a concise analysis of the importance of ...

Introduction

There has been a cold war between the United States and Cuba since the island was under the rule of Spaniards. Cuba lies only ninety miles of the coast of Florida, and this proximity has lent a viewpoint of many American decision-makers. This proximity to the United States also meant that their harbors were of strategic importance. Cuba's harbors could be used by enemies to threaten the US, and conversely, the US could use the harbors as its first line of the defense against its enemies. This island was factored into the United States economic system, and its economy ...

Understanding the Local Society in which Counterinsurgency Operations are conducted is Critical to Mission Success. Discuss. There has been a history in world political affairs when insurgency has forced single or joint counterinsurgency operations, organized in collaboration with the ruling government of that country to help it militarily to defeat insurgent forces. Before writing on counterinsurgency, we need to comprehend its meaning, which is an antonym of insurgency. According to Cambridge Dictionary Online, insurgency refers to a scenario when a country is taken control of by its people through the use of arms and ammunition, in other words, forcefully. ...