Utility of Force - Hardcover

Rupert Smith

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0713998369 ISBN 13: 9780713998368

Publisher: ALLEN LANE (PENG), 2005

Synopsis

"La guerra non esiste più": con queste parole Rupert Smith non intende dire che nel mondo non si combatte più, bensì che la guerra come l'avevamo conosciuta fino a pochi decenni fa - la guerra degli eserciti che si fronteggiano in campo aperto, dalle grandi battaglie napoleoniche agli scontri fra divisioni corazzate - è stata sostituita da quella che egli chiama "guerra fra la gente". Il campo di battaglia è oggi costituito dalle strade, dalle case e, soprattutto, dalla popolazione civile, come è avvenuto in Cecenia e Jugoslavia, in Medio Oriente e nel Ruanda. Ostaggi da sfruttare, scudi umani da utilizzare senza scrupoli, bersagli da colpire, i civili sono obiettivi da conquistare. Un nuovo "paradigma" bellico che ha minato la possibilità di uso efficace della forza da parte degli stati. Ecco perché i militari non sono più in grado di ottenere quei risultati che politici incompetenti e boriosi pretendono da loro. Sono, di fatto, le organizzazioni che definiamo terroristiche a combattere nel modo più "aggiornato". Alle nazioni democratiche il compito di rispondere a questa sfida, la più minacciosa del nostro tempo.

About this title

About the Author

General Sir Rupert Smith is one of the most senior international practitioners in the use of force. In his forty year career in the British Army he commanded the UK Armoured Division in the 1990-91 Gulf War, was GOC Northern Ireland, commanded the UN forces in Bosnia in 1995, and served as Deputy Commander of NATO. All of this experience informs his book. He retired in 2002.

Review

"One of the most important books on modern warfare in the last decade. We would be better off if the United States had a few more generals like him." --"The Washington Post Book World" "An impressive and absorbing work of military analysis. . . . Smith is the Clausewitz of low-intensity conflict and peacekeeping operations. . . . He brilliantly lays bare the newfound limits of Western military power." --"The New York Times Book Review" "It is hard to overstate the devastating nature of this book as an indictment of almost everything the West has done in recent years, and is doing today." --"The Sunday Telegraph""A closely argued, searching textbook on strategy and the efficient use of military power in the post-Cold War era."--"The New York Times" "Smith has written one of the most important books on modern warfare in the last decade. We would be better off if the United States had a few more generals like him."--Eliot A. Cohen, "The Washington Post Book World""An impressive and absorbing work of military analysis . . . If, in the end, he does not quite solve the riddle of how to win the small wars of our time, he brilliantly lays bare the newfound limits of Western military power. The more Iraq looks like Bosnia on the Tigris . . . the more prescient his book will seem."--Niall Ferguson, "The New York Times Book Review""Rupert Smith's The Utility of Force remains the seminal work on this subject. While others have added invaluable data . . . they fail to understand as Smith does that we live in a new era."--Stephen Graubard, "Financial Times" "From the Hardcover edition." " Smith has written one of the most important books on modern warfare in the last decade. We would be better off if the United States had a few more generals like him." --Eliot A. Cohen, "The Washington Post Book World"" An impressive and absorbing work of military analysis . . . If, in the end, he does not quite solve the riddle of how to win the small wars of our time, he brilliantly lays bare the newfound limits of Western military power. The more Iraq looks like Bosnia on the Tigris . . . the more prescient his book will seem." --Niall Ferguson, "The New York Times Book Review"" Rupert Smith's The Utility of Force remains the seminal work on this subject. While others have added invaluable data . . . they fail to understand as Smith does that we live in a new era." --Stephen Graubard, "Financial Times" "From the Hardcover edition."

Edition details

• Publisher: ALLEN LANE (PENG)
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0713998369
• ISBN 13: 9780713998368
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 448