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This introduction to the Kurds ranges from the long-lost origins of the Kurdish people through to the latest twists and turns of post-Gulf War western policy. The book provides a detailed analysis of the political situation of the Kurds in contemporary Iran, Iraq and Turkey.
This unique anthology of writings on revolutionary warfare and counterinsurgency covers almost all the major struggles of the modern world. Chaliand, who has had firsthand experience with guerrilla movements in Afghanistan, Africa, and Latin America, provides a concise yet panoramic overview of political and military strategies in revolutionary warfare, noting their strengths, limitations, and pathologies.
Overview: war and history -- The first military empire: the Assyrians -- The great strategy of the Byzantine Empire -- The Arabs -- The nomads of the Eurasian steppes -- The Seljuks, Mameluks, and the Crusades -- The Mongol Dmpire -- Tamerlane -- The Ottomans -- Safavid Iran -- The Ming and Chinese politico-military traditions -- The Manchu and the end of the nomads -- The Mughals and Islam in India -- Russia and the end of the Tatars -- The ascent of Europe -- The time of revolutions -- Guerilla warfare -- From total war to asymmetrical conflict -- Conclusion.
First published in English in 2007 under title: The history of terrorism: from antiquity to al Qaeda.
This engrossing anthology gathers together a remarkable collection of writings on the use of strategy in war. Gérard Chaliand has ranged over the whole of human history in assembling this collection—the result is an integration of the annals of military thought that provides a learned framework for understanding global political history. Included are writings from ancient and modern Europe, China, Byzantium, the Arab world, Persia, and the Ottoman Empire. Alongside well-known militarists such as Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Walter Raleigh, Rommel, and many others are "irregulars" such as Cortés, Lawrence of Arabia, and even Gandhi. Contrary to standard interpretations stressing competition b...
Examines displaced cultures throughout the world, including Jewish, African, Irish, Armenian, and Palestinian diasporas.
"The 16 million Kurds are the largest nation in the world with no state of their own. Their history is one of constant revolts and bloody repression, massacres, deportations and renewed insurrection. This classic collection of writings from Kurdish intellectuals and other internationally respected experts discusses the origins of Kurdish nationalism and analyzes their contemporary demand for autonomy in the aftermath of the Gulf crisis and the setting up of safe havens. It combines historical analysis of the Kurds under the Ottoman Empire with a thorough study of Kurdish life in all areas of Kurdistan -- Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and the former Soviet Union. Later sections cover recent Kurdish history with emphasis on the Iraqi Kurds, and the Kurdish movement in Turkey. Also included is an assessment of "Operation Provide Comfort" and the failure of the U.S. and international law to develop an adequate response to the Kurdish crisis following the Gulf War." -- Back cover.
In 1930, the great Spanish philosopher Jos Ortega y Gasset set forth a program for reforming the modern Spanish university. Aware that the missions of the university are many and often competing, Ortega built his program around a conception of a "general culture" that knows no national boundaries or time limits and could fit into any national system of higher education. His ideas are especially pertinent to contemporary debate in America over curriculum development and the purpose of education. In this volume Ortega sought to answer two essential questions: what is the knowledge most worth knowing by all students and what is the function of the university in a modern democracy? Basing his an...
Why has the West stopped winning wars, when since it set out to conquer the world in the sixteenth century and through to World War II, it had been almost systematically victorious? After World War II, beginning with the French defeat in Indochina, the tables began to turn to its disadvantage. The United States itself, with or without its allies, has engaged in costly interventions and has obtained nothing but mediocre military results along with disastrous political consequences.To answer this question, Gérard Chaliand, a French strategist, geopolitics expert, field observer, and professor, offers here a clear and sweeping view of the West's engagement in asymmetric, or irregular warfare s...