Book description
Guerrilla insurgencies continue to rage across the globe, fueled by
ethnic and religious conflict and the easy availability of weapons. At
the same time, urban population centers in both industrialized and
developing nations attract ever-increasing numbers of people,
outstripping rural growth rates worldwide. As a consequence of this
population shift from the countryside to the cities, guerrilla
conflict in urban areas, similar to the violent response to U. S.
occupation in Iraq, will become more frequent. Urban Guerrilla Warfare
traces the diverse origins of urban conflicts and identifies
similarities and differences in the methods of counterinsurgent
forces. In this wide-ranging and richly detailed comparative analysis,
Anthony James Joes examines eight key examples of urban guerrilla
conflict spanning half a century and four continents: Warsaw in 1944,
Budapest in 1956, Algiers in 1957, Montevideo and São Paulo in the
1960s, Saigon in 1968, Northern Ireland from 1970 to 1998, and Grozny
from 1994 to 1996. Joes demonstrates that urban insurgents violate
certain fundamental principles of guerrilla warfare as set forth by
renowned military strategists such as Carl von Clausewitz and Mao
Tse-tung. Urban guerrillas operate in finite areas, leaving themselves
vulnerable to encirclement and ultimate defeat. They also tend to
abandon the goal of establishing a secure base or a cross-border
sanctuary, making precarious combat even riskier. Typically, urban
guerrillas do not solely target soldiers and police; they often attack
civilians in an effort to frighten and disorient the local population
and discredit the regime. Thus urban guerrilla warfare becomes
difficult to distinguish from simple terrorism. Joes argues
persuasively against committing U. S. troops in urban
counterinsurgencies, but also offers cogent recommendations for the
successful conduct of such operations where they must be undertaken.
""Joes' analysis covers a spectrum that respects time
and geography, as well as the counterinsurgency methods of the
opposing force." --Armor" --
Anthony James Joes, professor of political science at Saint
Joseph's University, is the author of many books, including Resisting
Rebellion: The History and Politics of Counterinsurgency, and America
and Guerrilla Warfare.
