British Generals in Blair's Wars
Title | British Generals in Blair's Wars PDF eBook |
Author | Jonathan Bailey |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 558 |
Release | 2016-04-15 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 1317171993 |
British Generals in Blair's Wars is based on a series of high profile seminars held in Oxford in which senior British officers, predominantly from the army, reflect on their experience of campaigning. The chapters embrace all the UK's major operations since the end of the Cold War, but they focus particularly on Iraq and Afghanistan. As personal testimonies, they capture the immediacy of the authors' thoughts at the time, and show how the ideas of a generation of senior British officers developed in a period of rapid change, against a background of intense political controversy and some popular unease. The armed forces were struggling to revise their Cold War concepts and doctrines, and to find the best ways to meet the demands placed upon them by their political leaders in what was seen to be a 'New World Order'. It was a time when relations between the Government of the day and the armed services came under close scrutiny, and when the affection of the British public for its forces seemed to grow with the difficulty of their operational tasks. This is a truly unique and invaluable book. For the first time, we are offered first-hand testimony about Britain's involvement in recent campaigns by senior participants. In addition to touching on themes like civilian-military relations, the operational direction of war and relationships with allies, these eyewitness accounts give a real sense of how the character of a war changes even as it is being fought. It will be essential reading for those in military academies and staff colleges, not only in Britain but throughout NATO, and especially in the USA. It also has profound policy implications, as both the UK and NATO more generally reassess their strategies and the value of intervention operations. It will also become a primary source for historians and students of the wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan in particular.
British Generals in Blair's Wars
Title | British Generals in Blair's Wars PDF eBook |
Author | Jonathan B. A. Bailey |
Publisher | |
Pages | 385 |
Release | 2013 |
Genre | Afghan War, 2001- |
ISBN | 9781315570112 |
Blair's Wars
Title | Blair's Wars PDF eBook |
Author | John Kampfner |
Publisher | Simon and Schuster |
Pages | 392 |
Release | 2003 |
Genre | Great Britain |
ISBN | 0743248295 |
No Prime Minister in modern times has led Britain into as many wars as Tony Blair. In six years in office he committed soldiers to action in Kosovo, Iraq, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan. This analysis shows how Blair's government sought to be at the forefront of a turbulent world order.
Losing Small Wars
Title | Losing Small Wars PDF eBook |
Author | Frank Ledwidge |
Publisher | Yale University Press |
Pages | 339 |
Release | 2017-02-21 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 0300229097 |
This new edition of Frank Ledwidge’s eye-opening analysis of British involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan unpicks the causes and enormous costs of military failure. Updated throughout, and with fresh chapters assessing and enumerating the overall military performance since 2011—including Libya, ISIS, and the Chilcot findings—Ledwidge shows how lessons continue to go unlearned. “A brave and important book; essential reading for anyone wanting insights into the dysfunction within the British military today, and the consequences this has on the lives of innocent civilians caught up in war.”—Times Literary Supplement
High Command
Title | High Command PDF eBook |
Author | Christopher L. Elliott |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Pages | 314 |
Release | 2015 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 0190233052 |
Written by a retired British Army Major General, eveals how the highest levels of the British military focused on making plans work rather than questioning whether such goals made military sense
Memoirs of British Generals Distinguished During the Peninsular War
Title | Memoirs of British Generals Distinguished During the Peninsular War PDF eBook |
Author | John William Cole |
Publisher | |
Pages | 386 |
Release | 1856 |
Genre | Generals |
ISBN |
Public Opinion, Legitimacy and Tony Blair’s War in Iraq
Title | Public Opinion, Legitimacy and Tony Blair’s War in Iraq PDF eBook |
Author | James Strong |
Publisher | Taylor & Francis |
Pages | 229 |
Release | 2017-02-17 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN | 1315514001 |
In the wake of the publication of the Chilcot report, this book reinterprets the relationship between British public opinion and the Blair government’s decision-making in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It highlights how the government won the parliamentary vote and got its war, but never won the argument that it was the right thing to do. Understanding how, why and with what consequences Britain wound up in this position means understanding better both this specific case and the wider issue of how democratic publics influence foreign policy processes. Taking an innovative constructivist approach to understanding how public actors potentially influence foreign policy, Strong frames the debate about Iraq as a contest over legitimacy among active public actors, breaking it down into four constituent elements covering the necessity, legality and morality of war, and the government’s authority. The book presents a detailed empirical account of the British public debate before the invasion of Iraq based on the rigorous interrogation of thousands of primary sources, employing both quantitative and qualitative content analysis methods to interpret the shape of debate between January 2002 and March 2003. Also contributing to the wider foreign policy analysis literature, the book investigates the domestic politics of foreign policy decision-making, and particularly the influence public opinion exerts; considers the domestic structural determinants of foreign policy decision-making; and studies the ethics of foreign policy decision-making, and the legitimate use of force. It will be of great use to students and scholars of foreign policy analysis, as well as those interested in legitimacy in international conflict, British foreign policy, the Iraq War and the role of public opinion in conflict situations.