Reviews for Force of Choice: Perspectives on Special Operations (Queens Policy Studies Series)

The average rating for Force of Choice: Perspectives on Special Operations (Queens Policy Studies Series) based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-01-06 00:00:00 Matt Barajas Four thorough case studies of insurgent movements in different parts of the world - Somalia, Chechnya, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Shultz does a very good job of describing the conditions under which these insurgencies arose, the cultures and tactics of the insurgents, and the responses of the major powers they were or are fighting. Common themes stand out, e.g. the tendency of superpowers and their armies to underestimate guerrilla and insurgent groups and those groups' capabilities, and the degree to which the insurgencies' successes are based on analyzing the major powers' strengths and choosing battlegrounds and tactics that render those strengths irrelevant. I am giving it four stars because I find it frustratingly incomplete, in two respects. First, the author doesn't cover either terrorist or militia groups in as much depth as he does insurgents - he treats terrorism primarily as a tactic sometimes used by insurgents rather than as a course of action that is the main or only strategy of some groups that have no coherent insurgent basis, such as hate groups. Second, he omits what I think is a huge and growing element in contemporary combat, the role of transnational corporations in world affairs via either subsidizing the armed forces (regular or insurgent) of governments with which they have sweetheart deals and the growing frequency of the use of mercenaries by both those corporations and some governments including that of the U.S. Still, a very worthwhile read for anyone who wants more depth in their understanding of insurgencies, why they arise, and how they work, than we're going to get from the evening news or the daily paper.

Review # 2 was written on 2021-01-04 00:00:00 Adam Doe Schultz and Dew examine case studies of Somali, Chechen, Afghan and Iraqi resistance to conventional military forces, and why understanding their culture, organization and motivation is necessary in engaging them as adversaries or as participants in any peacekeeping or stabilization project. This is pretty basic stuff with a lot of necessary historical back story, and it veers into romanticizing and admiring tribal behaviors like having their war camps away from the village "to preserve village traditions" and only really getting brutal against outsiders like the Russians, neither of which really engages the internal power dynamics of these groups. This book was, however, very useful as a reminder to the countless ding dongs who have laboriously explained to me that they and their AR-15s are essential for fighting a government armed with Predator drones that the societies which have successfully accomplished stalemates are those in which they're already used to ruthlessly subordinating themselves to harsh discipline in the name of tribal honor codes, and able to endure incredibly harsh physical conditions over the long haul, all of which would fall apart at the First Battle of the Wal-Mart Parking lot.