1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910300506303321

Autore

Krishnan Armin

Titolo

Why Paramilitary Operations Fail / / by Armin Krishnan

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2018

ISBN

3-319-71631-X

Edizione

[1st ed. 2018.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (264 pages)

Disciplina

327.1273

Soggetti

Security, International

Politics and war

International relations

United States—Politics and government

Peace

International Security Studies

Military and Defence Studies

Foreign Policy

US Politics

International Relations Theory

Conflict Studies

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

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.

Sommario/riassunto

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