The Dragons and the Snakes

The Dragons and the Snakes
Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Total Pages : 337
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780190265700
ISBN-13 : 0190265701
Rating : 4/5 (701 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Dragons and the Snakes by : David Kilcullen

Download or read book The Dragons and the Snakes written by David Kilcullen and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-02-04 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Just a few years ago, people spoke of the US as a hyperpower-a titan stalking the world stage with more relative power than any empire in history. Yet as early as 1993, newly-appointed CIA director James Woolsey pointed out that although Western powers had "slain a large dragon" by defeating the Soviet Union in the Cold War, they now faced a "bewildering variety of poisonous snakes." In The Dragons and the Snakes, the eminent soldier-scholar David Kilcullen asks how, and what, opponents of the West have learned during the last quarter-century of conflict. Applying a combination of evolutionary theory and detailed field observation, he explains what happened to the "snakes"-non-state threats including terrorists and guerrillas-and the "dragons"-state-based competitors such as Russia and China. He explores how enemies learn under conditions of conflict, and examines how Western dominance over a very particular, narrowly-defined form of warfare since the Cold War has created a fitness landscape that forces adversaries to adapt in ways that present serious new challenges to America and its allies. Within the world's contemporary conflict zones, Kilcullen argues, state and non-state threats have increasingly come to resemble each other, with states adopting non-state techniques and non-state actors now able to access levels of precision and lethal weapon systems once only available to governments. A counterintuitive look at this new, vastly more complex environment, The Dragons and the Snakes will not only reshape our understanding of the West's enemies' capabilities, but will also show how we can respond given the increasing limits on US power.


The Dragons and the Snakes Related Books

The Dragons and the Snakes
Language: en
Pages: 337
Authors: David Kilcullen
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2020-02-04 - Publisher: Oxford University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Just a few years ago, people spoke of the US as a hyperpower-a titan stalking the world stage with more relative power than any empire in history. Yet as early
An Instinct for Dragons
Language: en
Pages: 195
Authors: David E. Jones
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 2016-05-06 - Publisher: Routledge

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

First published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
The Dragons and the Snakes
Language: en
Pages: 337
Authors: David Kilcullen
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2020 - Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book applies concepts from evolutionary science and military innovation to explore how state and nonstate adversaries of the Western powers have learned to
Blood Year
Language: en
Pages: 307
Authors: David Kilcullen
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2016 - Publisher: Oxford University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In 2014, a resurgent and bellicose Russia took over Crimea and fueled a civil war in Eastern Ukraine; post-Saddam Iraq lost a third of its territory to an army
Drakon
Language: en
Pages: 492
Authors: Daniel Ogden
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2013-02-28 - Publisher: Oxford University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume explores the dragon or the supernatural serpent in Graeco-Roman myth and religion. It incorporates analyses, with comprehensive accounts of the rich