Unconventional Warfare, Unconventional Reading

Fire and Movement

Subtitled Bargain Basement Warfare in the Far East, Jac Weller covers tactics in the insurgent wars then being fought in the hinterlands of the Far East. The Bargain Basement aspect was a reference to the often low level guerrilla style actions in the 1950s and 1960s which were proving the main front in the struggle between the Communist versus Western world. Chapters cover the situations in Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and other Cold War hotspots. No big tank battles or airpower campaigns here, but what happens on the company level can be just as decisive. There is a lot of solid information here on weapons, tactics and company echelon organization, useful for the up front leader not to mention the wargamer! The author was a consultant on firearms and also wrote several books on military history.

– Jac Weller, New York: Crowell, 1967.

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The War We Are In

James Burnham was known as the author of The Managerial Revolution and The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom, two of the landmark political works of the 1940s. The War We Are In is a collection of magazine essays he wrote and which were published during the 1950s and 1960s that deal with many of the major crises of the Cold War (which Burnham termed The Third World War). One of his central theses is that military power by itself is insufficient to defeat a foe who also employs political warfare (or as we would term it all today, the spectrum of conflict from information operations up to regime change). Especially valuable is the book’s section on the Forms of Modern Warfare which provides some eye opening tactics. Burnham observes that political warfare had gained victories for insurgents in numerous conflicts worldwide and thus among Western militaries needs “an occasional hour of concentrated thought.” While dated in places, The War We Are In is indeed worth an occasional hour of reading.

– James Burnham, New Rochelle: Arlington, 1967.

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Defeat in the East

Subtitled The Mark of Mao Tse-tung on War, Defeat in the East is intended as something of a warning for Western forces engaged in combat against various communist and communist inspired insurgent movements in Asia and elsewhere. The author served as an officer in the British Indian Army and later was head of military studies at Manchester University. He deals with the full range of conflict – guerrilla, mobile, positional and psychological operations – and how Western military doctrines of the early Cold War era were proving inadequate in this environment. The book’s starting point is with the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, 1954, in the First Indochina War. The author then goes on to show the implications for the ongoing Vietnam (Second Indochina) War. Defeat in the East is worth reading for understanding how different philosophical mindsets create the margin between victory and defeat, all the more valid today in the 21st century.

– Michael Ellliot-Bateman, London: Oxford university, 1967.

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Human Factors Considerations of Undergrounds in Insurgencies

A fairly technocratic analysis of how insurgencies operate, especially the organizational factors behind both the guerrillas and the demonstrators in the streets. It’s all in there: cadres, fronts, recruit motivations, mass media, political demonstrations and a lot of other tactics, backed up by case studies. Especially valuable is the section on why people join a political movement, useful for both war and pace. A second edition was published in 2013 which accounts for post-Cold War conflict and the impact of globalization on war in the shadows. Definitely a standard for understanding unconventional warfare as well as developing countermeasures..

– Andrew Molnar, Jerry Tinker, John LeNoir, Special Operations Research Office, Washington DC: American University, 1968; second edition: Paul Tompkins, Nathan Box, US Army Special Operations Command & Johns Hopkins, 2012.

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Modern Irregular Warfare

Wargamers and World War II historians might recognize former colonel Von der Heydte as a prominent German paratrooper officer. Afterwards, he went on to head the Institute for Military Law at the University of Wurzburg. His book analyzes insurgency, urban terrorism, propaganda, and covert operations as instruments of total warfare. While Modern Irregular Warfare was written at the highpoint of the Cold War when the Western powers were confronting the Communists, it has a lot of lessons for engaging in full spectrum operations in the 21st century where state supported NGOs have adopted many of the tactics of a prior generation’s unconventional warriors.

– Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte, New York: New Benjamin Franklin, 1986.

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The Zapatista Social Netwar in Mexico

In 1994 the Zapatistas guerrilla movement exploded in the Mexican state of Chiapas opposing globalization and initially giving the government a run for its money. The Zapatistas evoked a romanticized image of the early 20th century Mexican rebel leader Emiliano Zapata and gained some fame for their media savvy info ops. When Mexico’s armed forces countered the movement’s guerrilla offensive, the Zapatistas took to the electronic realm to mobilize transnational networks by pioneering such tactics as social media swarming and exploiting alliances with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) worldwide. This is a RAND Corporation study with plenty of lessons learned for all sides and dissidents everywhere.

– John Arquilla, David Ronfeldt, Santa Monica: RAND, 1998.

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Networks and Netwars

Another RAND study, this on the impact of the then-new cybernetic and networking technologies in creating an information revolution. The result has been Netwar, quasi-independent groups operating via online networks to gain their goals. Netwar is displacing the older hierarchical insurgent organizations with a shifting array of militant, propaganda, financial, protest, criminal, and other nodes which can outmaneuver conventional forces. Their tactics include among other things swarming attacks conducted by cyber-linked nodes. Networks and Netwars provides counter-measures which can be employed by military, counter-terrorist and law enforcement agencies. We’re living in the era of the cyber activist or the term I like to use, the cyber-cadre.

– John Arquilla, David Ronfeldt, Santa Monica: RAND, 2001.

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Brave New War

John Robb popularized the concept of Global Guerrillas, non-state groups which operate transnationally using unconventional methods from guerrilla warfare to cyberwar. Their goal is the creation of virtual states which operate in a shadow realm beyond the reach of conventional opponents. There is much discussion in here about the potential disruption of infrastructure and how this can cascade into wider effects against both physical systems and the psychology of foes. The goal is not necessarily to seize geographical spaces but instead stake out decentralized virtual realms. Lots to think about in the post-9/11 world, especially in creating resilient communities capable of countering the next wave of warfare. Robb is a former US Air Force officer, a software pioneer and a consultant on the Global War on Terror.

– John Robb, Hoboken: Riley & Sons, 2007.

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A Question of Command

Mark Moyar presents a groundbreaking thesis to unconventional warriors: that what proves decisive in defeating insurgencies is not the organizational factors of infrastructure per se but rather the quality of leadership. Good leaders demonstrate such attributes as initiative, dedication and integrity. They will inspire others and develop effective tactics (which may include kinetic applications, propaganda, civic action and the rest of the UW panoply). Therefore, it is vital to identify your real leaders and get them into the field. The book includes case studies from the American Civil War, the Philippines, Southeast Asia and the various Persian Gulf campaigns. Also to be considered is outside support. Insurgents rely on third party arms, propaganda, sanctuaries and funding, so cutting off this support is vital in suppressing hostile insurgences. A Question of Command presents new ways to fight in an ancient form of warfare.

– Mark Moyar, New Haven: Yale, 2009.

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The Handbook of 5GW [Fifth Generation Warfare]

Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW) The book is a collection of essays by different authors, covering various aspects of 5GW. Broadly, this is the use of emerging technologies (cyber-, nano-, bio-, cognitive-) which can not only outflank a conventional foe but also transform the warrior. This is the realm of the non-state actors, multi-dimensional battlespaces and hyper-reality. There is plenty in here for conventional military leaders who want to move into new realms of conflict. Artificial intelligence, quantum computing and chaos theory are also in the mix for the 21st century warrior.

– Daniel Abbott, Ann Arbor, Nimble, 2010.

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Composite Warfare

A handbook specializing on ground forces operations in today’s Africa, written by the head of one of the world’s premier private military companies and with global applications. Barlow has lots of up front experience with combat on the continent. He defines Composite Warfare as the use of all instruments of the state to gain national objectives, with the military being the tip of the proverbial and sometimes literal spear. There are chapters on strategy, operations and tactics, threat prediction, counter-guerrilla operations, organization of composite combat groups, and engaging in new realms of warfare. The book can be on the didactic level of a lesson plan at points, but nonetheless a comprehensive work.

– Eeben Barlow, Pinetown: 30 South, 2015

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Africa@War

A series of studies on, as the title proclaims, Africa at War. The bush wars in Rhodesia, Angola, Congo, the Sahara and assorted other fronts in the Cold War struggle for Africa are in the mix. Various volumes include up front accounts of operations on the ground, illustrated with numerous photos and some useful maps. Especially useful are the detailed accounts of the various operations conducted by airmobile light infantry (such as the Rhodesian fire forces) and special operations forces (like the Foreign Legion paras at Kolwezi). As well, some of the big unit actions involving armor and airpower are covered (clashes between South African Defence Forces and the Cuban military in Angola). The authors also provide some of the political background for the military ops and how they impacted on the long term outcomes of the campaigns.

– various authors, Solihull, West Midlands: Helion.

That’s it for now. As new books come across my desk, I’ll be running reviews of them here. Stay tuned.

First published on GamerCadre Substack

About GamerCadre:

GamerCadre is a Substack site which runs articles on military simulations issues along with related topics.

Military simulations or wargames have had a critical impact on the development of national strategy as well as influencing critical audiences in the armed forces, IT and the general public.

Gamer Cadre articles also include critiques of critical race theory infiltration in the gaming world and how this can be countered. One piece provides a spirited defense of the General Pershing Square which recently came under attack in Los Angeles.

There are also articles on unconventional warfare, cyberwar game design, and the ongoing culture wars

Joseph Miranda is a designer of commercial wargames, a past university instructor in criminal justice, and a speaker at various military and industry gaming conferences. He is also the author of numerous military history articles as well as being a member of STARRS.

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