The Problem of Force: Grappling with the Global Battlefield

Why, despite indisputably superior military might, have the US-led military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq been so fraught with setbacks? Does it make sense in today’s security environment to use military force to achieve strategic objectives? How does the contemporary battlefield function? Addressing these questions, Simon Murden explores the contradictions inherent in attempting to combat global terrorist networks by intervening in complex, local social settings. Murden proposes two approaches to better understand the nature of contemporary warfare: one focusing on the nature of insurgency and the other on the dynamics of intervention. Applying these approaches to the cases of Iraq and Afghanistan, he offers important conclusions about the shortcomings of US strategy in the global war on terror.