Course Syllabus

ISSS 4005: IRREGULAR WARFARE: TERRORISTS, INSURGENTS, and TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINALS

Fall 2014

University of Virginia

Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies

Charlottesville Campus

Tuesday 4-6:45 pm, Zehmer Room D

Aug 26 – Dec 2

Instructor: Sean Edwards, Ph.D.

sje4av@virginia.edu

Irregular warfare is a violent struggle between state and non-state actors for legitimacy and/or influence over a relevant population. Irregular wars waged by insurgents, terrorists, and criminal organizations have comprised 80% of all armed conflict since 1945. These types of conflicts are protracted, costly, messy, and more likely along the "arc of instability."  We expect this trend to continue. This course will educate students on the history and theory behind terrorist and insurgent campaigns, with specific case studies drawn mostly from the 19^th, 20^th and 21^st centuries, to include current crises in Syria-Iraq and Nigeria. Students will explore the underlying political, social, economic, and other factors that lead to the birth of insurgencies and terrorist movements in the first place, the competing strategic approaches to insurgency and counterinsurgency, and explore US policy options for how we can best avoid large scale conflict by smart early intervention. We will also explore the national security threat posed by transnational criminal organizations and gangs in Central and South America.

Students will be expected to take an active role in class discussions. Grades will be based upon attendance and class participation, two 5-10 page papers, and one take home essay exam. Note the emphasis on participation - 30% of the grade - so I strongly encourage you to finish the required readings in time to maximize that opportunity.

Instructor: Sean Edwards is currently the Senior Intelligence Officer (SIO) for Irregular Warfare for a US Government agency. He served as an airborne ranger in the US Army before attending college and has worked as an analyst, branch chief, and SIO for the past 13 years. He deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan as a senior advisor to ISAF Joint Command in the summer of 2011.  He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Policy Analysis from RAND, an M.A. in National Security Studies from Georgetown University, and B.A. in History and Mathematics from UVA. He has written dozens of classified assessments and published several monographs in open source on topics ranging from urban warfare to the US Army's role in space. His dissertation, Swarming and the Future of Warfare, was published by RAND in 2005.

Learning Outcomes

A comprehensive understanding of the conceptual issues associated with irregular warfare, and particularly, of insurgency, terrorism, and transnational criminals.

Improved research and writing skills associated with a complex analytical subject that spans multiple social science disciplines. Writing assignments are timed essay format or home study research papers.

Basic awareness and vocabulary associated with the theory and practice of irregular warfare.

A basic understanding of the political, economic, social, historical, and geographical drivers of violent political instability around the world today.

Important questions to be explored and potential paper topics:

• Why did irregular warfare come to dominate conflict after 1945?
• What is the difference between a terrorist and an insurgent?
• What motivates people to join terrorist or insurgent groups?
• What factors correlate with terrorist or insurgent success?
• What are the most effective counterinsurgent and counter terrorist practices?
• How can the US build partner capacity to defeat violent extremists?
• Can population-centric counterinsurgency work for the United States?
• How has the changing information environment affected the capability of non-state actors to engage in irregular warfare? What is driving the empowerment of small groups and individuals?
• Has the nature of insurgency changed in the 21st Century?
• Which jihadist groups pose the greatest threat today?
• How do we choose where, when and how to counter insurgent and terrorist movements given our limited resources?

Assessment Components:

Papers must be referenced and have a bibliography in a recognized format (Chicago Manual of Style is recommended).

Required Texts:

Max Boot, Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present, New York & London, Liveright Publishing Corporation, a Division of W.W. Norton & Company, 2013, (ISBN 978-0-87140-424-4).

Class Requirements

Students will be expected to take an active role in class discussions. Grades will be based upon class participation, two 5-10 page papers, and one take home essay exam (timed). Note there is no class on Oct 7.

PAPERS: Students will write two 5-10 page papers.

EXAMS: Students will complete one essay exam at home within a 2 hour time constraint.

PARTICIPATION/ATTENDANCE: Given the importance of discussion, attendance is particularly important. Note that participation is 30% of your grade. If you must miss a class, please notify me by e-mail or telephone in advance, if possible. Missing class will affect the class participation grade: one missed class will have no effect on the grade, but each subsequent class missed will potentially lower the class participation grade.

READINGS: Students are expected to read the assigned readings and be prepared to discuss the various discussion questions. I have made efforts to distribute the reading equally but some issues necessarily required more reading than others. The lecture and reading schedule has been made as specific as possible to give the course structure and direction. However, realize that this schedule is subject to change to accommodate extended discussion of matters of interest for the class and to account for breaking events in Syria, etc.

Evaluation Criteria

Grades will be assigned as follows:

Level and quality of participation - 30%

First paper - 25%

Second paper - 25%

Essay exam - 20%

Class Schedule:

Class 1: Tuesday, Aug 26

Introduction, definitions, the terrorist-insurgency continuum, survey of ongoing conflicts and threats around the World

Reading:

David Killcullen, The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One, Oxford University Press, 2009, Chapter 1, pp. 1-38.

Max Boot, Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present, New York & London, Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2013, pp. xx-xxvii, 8-12, 41-43.

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Class 2: Tuesday, Sep 2

Civil War Dynamics

Sidney Tarrow, “Inside Insurgencies: Politics and Violence in an Age of Civil War,” American Political Science Review 5, no. 3 (2007).

Stathis Kalyvas, “Warfare in Civil Wars,” in Isabelle Duyvesteyn and Jan Angstrom (eds.), Rethinking the Nature of War, Abingdton: Frank Cass, 2005, pp. 88-108.

 

 

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Class 3: Tuesday, Sep 9

Underlying Causes of Extremism

USAID, Guide to the Drivers of Violent Extremism, Produced by Guilain Denoeux with Lynn Carter of Management Systems International, 2009 (skim).

Recommended:

Michael Mousseau, “Market Civilization and Its Clash with Terror,” International Security 27:3, Winter 2002/03, pp. 5-29.

Jeff Victoroff, "The Mind of the Terrorist: A Review and Critique of Psychological Approaches," Journal of Conflict Resolution, 49:1, 2005, pp. 3-42.

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Class 4: Tuesday, Sep 16

History of guerrilla and revolutionary warfare, classic theories of insurgency

Reading:

John Shy and Thomas W. Collier, "Revolutionary War," in Makers of Modern Strategy, edited by Peter Paret, Princeton University Press, 1986, pp. 815-862.

Bard E. O’Neill, Insurgency and Terrorism, 2^nd Edition, Revised, Potomac Books, Inc., 2005, Chapter 3, Insurgent Strategies, pp. 15-70.

Recommended:

John Nagl, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam, University of Chicago Press, Chapter 2, pp. 15-33.

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Class 5: Tuesday, Sep 23

Note****We covered this material below and I am traveling so guest speaker Dave Grogan will address the class.

 

Mao Zedong and the Communist Insurgency in China

Boot, Invisible Armies, pp. 328-346.

Recommended:

Mao Tse-Tung, On Guerrilla Warfare, translated from the Chinese by Samuel Griffith II, University of Illinois Press, 1961.

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Class 6: Tuesday, Sep 30

Wars of National Liberation: Malaya, Algeria, Vietnam

Reading:

Boot, Invisible Armies, pp. 321-327, 364-377, 378-393, 413-426.

Recommended:

Andrew F. Krepinevich, The Army and Vietnam, JHU Press, 1988, Chapters 6-7, pp. 164-214.

Nagl, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife, pp. 59-85, 87-111.

1st Paper Outline/draft Due

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Tuesday, Oct 7 – No Class

No class – swapping this week with Oct 14 reading day

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Class 7: Tuesday, Oct 14

Counterinsurgency Practices

Reading:

David Galula, Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice, Praeger Security International, 1964, Chapters 5-7, pp. 70-134.

Gian P. Gentile, “A Strategy of Tactics: Population-centric COIN and the Army,” Parameters, Autumn 2009, pp. 5-17.

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Class 8: Tuesday, Oct 21

The 4 Waves of Modern Terrorism

Reading:

Boot, Invisible Armies, pp. 202-264, 450-477.

David C. Rapoport, “The Fourth Wave: September 11 in the History of Terrorism,” Current History, December 2001.

Recommended Reading:

Andrew Kydd and Barbara Walter, "The Strategies of Terrorism," International Security, 31:1, Summer 2006, pp. 49-80.

Max Abrahms, "Why Terrorism Does Not Work," International Security, 31:2, Fall 2006, pp. 42-78.

1st Paper Final Draft Due

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Class 9: Tuesday, Oct 28 -

Rise of Radical Islam (Shia and Sunni)

Boot, Invisible Armies, pp. 478-528.

Recommended Reading:

David J. Kilcullen, “Countering Global Insurgency,” The Journal of Strategic Studies, Vol. 28, No. 4, August 2005, pp. 597-617.

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Class 10: Tuesday, Nov 4

Case Studies: Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)

Reading:

Boot, Invisible Armies, pp. 529-546.

Recommended:

Killcullen, The Accidental Guerrilla, pp. 39-185 (Skim).

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Class 11: Tuesday, Nov 11

 Case Studies: Syria-Iraq and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and

Nigeria and Boko Haram

Reading:

International Crisis Group, Popular Protest in North Africa and the Middle East (VII): The Syrian Regime's Slow Motion Suicide, July 2011.

Andrew Walker, What is Boko Haram?, US Institute for Peace, Special Report 38, June 2012.

2^nd Paper Outline/Draft Due

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Class 12: Tuesday, Nov 18

The Insurgency-Crime Nexus: The FARC, Taliban, and Mexican TCOs - Part One

Reading:

Hal Brands, Mexico’s Narco-Insurgency and U.S. Counterdrug Policy, Strategic Studies Institute, 2009, pp. 1-13.

Brad Freden, “The COIN Approach to Mexican Drug Cartels: Square Peg in a Round Hole,” Small Wars Journal, Small Wars Journal LLC, December 2011 (found at http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/the-coin-approach-to-mexican-drug-cartels-square-peg-in-a-round-hole

June Beittel, Mexico’s Drug Trafficking Organizations: Source and Scope of the Rising Violence, Congressional Research Service, June 2012, (Skim).

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Class 13: Tuesday, Nov 25

Hybrid Warfare

Frank Hoffman, Conflict in the 21st Century: The Rise of Hybrid Wars, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, 2007 (Skim).

Russell Glenn, "Thoughts on "Hybrid" Conflict, Small Wars Journal, Small Wars Journal LLC, 2009.

2^nd Paper Final Draft Due

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Class 14: Tuesday, Dec 2

The Future of Irregular Warfare

Reading:

 “Complex Irregular Warfare: The Face of Contemporary Conflict,” Military Balance, IISS, 2005, pp. 411-420.

Killcullen, The Accidental Guerrilla, pp. 291-301.

David Killcullen, "The City as a System: Future Conflict and Urban Resilience." Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 36, no. 2 (Summer 2012): 19-39.

 

Take Home Essay exam due

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Technical Specifications: Computer Hardware

• Computer with basic audio/video output equipment
• Internet access (broadband recommended)
• Microsoft Word

 

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• BbCollaborate (Elluminate) Support: http://support.blackboardcollaborate.com

 

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Irregular warfare is a violent struggle between state and non-state actors for legitimacy and/or influence over a relevant population. Irregular wars waged by insurgents, terrorists, and criminal organizations have comprised 80% of all armed conflict since 1945. These types of conflicts are protracted, costly, messy, and more likely along the "arc of instability."  We expect this trend to continue. This course will educate students on the history and theory behind terrorist and insurgent campaigns, with specific case studies drawn mostly from the 19^th, 20^th and 21^st centuries, to include current crises in Syria-Iraq and Nigeria. Students will explore the underlying political, social, economic, and other factors that lead to the birth of insurgencies and terrorist movements in the first place, the competing strategic approaches to insurgency and counterinsurgency, and explore US policy options for how we can best avoid large scale conflict in the first place by smart early intervention. We will also explore the national security threat posed by transnational criminal organizations and gangs in Central and South America.