Grey Wars


Book Description

An analysis of U.S. Special Operations, at the center of America's twenty-first-century wars This original and accessible book is a comprehensive, authoritative analysis of U.S. Special Operations. U.S. Special Operations Command trains and equips units to undertake select military activities, frequently high-risk missions, often for the purposes of counterterrorism and counterinsurgency. Since 9/11, impelled by an attack on U.S. soil, these forces have been a central instrument of America's military campaign--operating in about one hundred countries on any given day. This fight--neither hot war nor cold peace--was launched and executed as a new type of global war in 2001 and has since splintered into a spectrum of regional conflicts. The result is our nation's grey wars: hazy and lethal. This contemporary history, incorporating extensive interviews and archival research by security studies expert N. W. Collins, delves deeply into the transformation of these forces since 9/11.




Grey Wars


Book Description

An analysis of U.S. Special Operations, at the center of America’s twenty-first-century wars “Grey Wars is for anyone who wants to understand today’s fights. Collins has done a great service by providing a well-sourced, clear, and insightful look into the missions and activities of U.S. special operators. Highly recommend.”—Mike Thornton, USN Seal (ret.), Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, and coauthor, By Honor Bound “Fascinating and deeply researched, covering the defining moments in modern special operations; Grey Wars is a must-read for anyone interested in the post 9/11 world.”—Admiral William H. McRaven, USN (ret.), Ninth Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command This original and accessible book is a comprehensive, authoritative analysis of U.S. Special Operations. U.S. Special Operations Command trains and equips units to undertake select military activities, frequently high-risk missions, often for the purposes of counterterrorism and counterinsurgency. Since 9/11, impelled by an attack on U.S. soil, these forces have been a central instrument of America’s military campaign—operating in about one hundred countries on any given day. This fight—neither hot war nor cold peace—was launched and executed as a new type of global war in 2001 and has since splintered into a spectrum of regional conflicts. The result is our nation’s grey wars: hazy and lethal. This contemporary history, incorporating extensive interviews and archival research by security studies expert N. W. Collins, delves deeply into the transformation of these forces since 9/11.




Summary of N. W. Collins's Grey Wars


Book Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 MacDill Air Force Base is the center of America’s twenty-first-century wars. The forces are the central instrument of America’s military campaign, but they are often peripheral in national security decision-making. #2 We were at MacDill for a series of briefings on the 9/11 wars. We would visit the two combatant commands co-located there: U. S. Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, developed forces for global counterterrorism activities, unconventional operations, and crisis missions; and U. Central Command, or CENTCOM, organized geographically, directs forces deployed to the Middle East and Central Asia. #3 MacDill Air Force Base is the home of both SOCOM and CENTCOM, and is where they send their staff members to spend their two or three years assigned to them. It is not a place for training purposes. #4 The four-star foreign policy system in the United States is rooted in the Roman Empire’s pro-consuls, well-funded, semi-autonomous centers of American foreign policy.




The Grey Code


Book Description

The Galactic Empire has fallen, In its wake two new governments have risen, The Republic Empire, rulers of the inner systems, And the Order of the Empire, that controls the outer rim. These two governments live in an uneasy alliance. The Jedi Order has been reestablished as peace keepers, between the two governing systems of the galaxy. Though the Jedi Order exist, the Jedi live in scattered groups, Each group establishing its own temple and their own laws. The Jedi only answer to their Grand Masters and the Governments they serve. Planetary systems live in chaos as the two governments fight for territory. While the Republic Empire prefers diplomacy, The Order of the Empire refers planetary occupation and Favoritism of influential citizens to control the planets in their territory. Civil war looms on the horizon, Can the scattered and disjointed Jedi Order restore peace, Before it is too late...







Spy Wars


Book Description

King Lear, one of Shakespeare's darkest and most savage plays, tells the story of the foolish and Job-like Lear, who divides his kingdom, as he does his affections, according to vanity and whim. Lear's failure as a father engulfs himself and his world in turmoil and tragedy. He changes from king to beggar, and finally, to man, in a pattern of loss and discovery which reflects the archetype of tragic wisdom.




The Green and the Gray


Book Description

Why did many Irish Americans, who did not have a direct connection to slavery, choose to fight for the Confederacy? This perplexing question is at the heart of David T. Gleeson's sweeping analysis of the Irish in the Confederate States of America. Taking a broad view of the subject, Gleeson considers the role of Irish southerners in the debates over secession and the formation of the Confederacy, their experiences as soldiers, the effects of Confederate defeat for them and their emerging ethnic identity, and their role in the rise of Lost Cause ideology. Focusing on the experience of Irish southerners in the years leading up to and following the Civil War, as well as on the Irish in the Confederate army and on the southern home front, Gleeson argues that the conflict and its aftermath were crucial to the integration of Irish Americans into the South. Throughout the book, Gleeson draws comparisons to the Irish on the Union side and to southern natives, expanding his analysis to engage the growing literature on Irish and American identity in the nineteenth-century United States.




Hybrid Threats and Grey Zone Conflict


Book Description

Hybrid Threats and Grey Zone Conflict explores the legal dimension of strategic competition below the threshold of war, assessing the key legal and ethical questions posed for liberal democracies. Bringing together diverse scholarly and practitioner perspectives, the volume introduces readers to the conceptual and practical difficulties arising in this area, the rich debates the topic has generated, and the challenges that countering hybrid threats and grey zone conflict poses for liberal democracies.




Public Security and Governance in Contemporary China


Book Description

The recent rise in reported public security issues in China is one of the most repeated concerns amongst the Chinese authorities. During the past 30 years of reform in China, stability maintenance as a governance strategy has in fact laid a solid foundation for the overall development and growth of the nation. However, it remains to be seen whether this approach can sustain economic growth as well as political stability in the near future. This book examines this policy of stability maintenance, as adopted by the Chinese government, in different social circumstances. Using a variety of examples, including hospital disputes, incidents of environmental pollution, food safety issues and disaster settlements, it takes a multi-disciplinary approach, using empirical data to assess the true picture of contentious politics in China. Although stability maintenance has played a major role in confronting many of the serious challenges posed to China’s public security, ultimately, the book concludes that as a governance strategy it can only be short-term and will surely be replaced, due to its high costs. Using case studies from across China, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Chinese Studies, Political Science and Sociology. It will also appeal to journalists and policy analysts with an interest in Chinese politics and society.




The Grey Zone


Book Description

The high civilian death toll in modern, protracted conflicts such as those in Syria or Iraq indicate the limits of international law in offering protections to civilians at risk. A recent conference of states convened by the International Committee of the Red Cross referred to 'an institutional vacuum in the area of international humanitarian law implementation'. Yet both international humanitarian law and the law of human rights establish a series of rights intended to protect civilians. But which law or laws apply in a particular situation, and what are the obstacles to their implementation? How can the law offer greater protections to civilians caught up in new methods of warfare, such as drone strikes, or targeted by new forms of military organisation, such as transnational armed groups? Can the implementation gap be filled by the growing use of human rights courts to remedy violations of the laws of armed conflict, or are new instruments or mechanisms of civilian legal protection needed? This volume brings together contributions from leading academic authorities and legal practitioners on the situation of civilians in the grey zone between human rights and the laws of war. The chapters in Part 1 address key contested or boundary issues in defining the rights of civilians or non-combatants in today's conflicts. Those in Part 2 examine remedies and current mechanisms for redress both at the international and national level, and those in Part 3 assess prospects for the development of new mechanisms for addressing violations. As military intervention to protect civilians remains contested, this volume looks at the potential for developing alternative approaches to the protection of civilians and their rights.