This book explores the cultural history and future prospects of the so-called 'new American way of war'. In recent decades, American military culture has become increasingly dominated by a vision of 'immaculate destruction', which reached its apogee with the fall of Baghdad in 2003. Operation Iraqi Freedom was hailed as the triumphant validation of this new American way of war. For its most enthusiastic supporters, it also encapsulated a broader political vision. By achieving complete technical mastery of the battlefield, the US would render warfare surgical, humane, and predictable, and...
This book explores the cultural history and future prospects of the so-called 'new American way of war'. In recent decades, American military culture ...
This book assesses the use of 'mercenaries' by states, and their integration into the national armed forces as part of a new hybridisation trend of contemporary armies. Governments, especially in the West, are undertaking an unprecedented wave of demilitarisation and military budget cuts. Simultaneously, these same governments are increasingly opening their armies up to foreign nationals and outsourcing military operations to private companies. This book explores the impact of this hybridisation on the values, cohesion and effectiveness of the armed forces by comparing and contrasting the...
This book assesses the use of 'mercenaries' by states, and their integration into the national armed forces as part of a new hybridisation trend of co...
Spruyt explains how collective belief systems influenced the political order in three non-European societies c.1500-1900, and the way in which these polities engaged the Western colonial empires. The inter-disciplinary approach of this book will appeal to students and scholars of international relations, historical sociology and global history.
Spruyt explains how collective belief systems influenced the political order in three non-European societies c.1500-1900, and the way in which these p...
