ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has become a key political and military actor in the M... more ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has become a key political and military actor in the Middle East and in North Africa. This essay aims at outlining ISIS warfare through an analysis of its operations in the frame of hybrid warfare theory proposed by Frank Hoffman. Therefore, the paper deals with: the role of terrorist tactics in ISIS warfare and the relationship between terrorism and insurgency; ISIS use of technology, mainly with regard to suicide attacks and to drones; and the relevance of urban warfare. Finally, the paper highlights how ISIS operates and the most threatening features of its warfare.
Dopo la fine della Guerra fredda, l\u2019insorgenza e la controinsorgenza hanno caratterizzato in... more Dopo la fine della Guerra fredda, l\u2019insorgenza e la controinsorgenza hanno caratterizzato in maniera crescente sia la politica internazionale sia quella interna. Operazioni come quelle in Somalia, Ruanda, ex Jugoslavia, Congo, sino ai casi dell\u2019Afghanistan e dell\u2019Iraq hanno contribuito a ridefinire la concezione di sicurezza, drenato una notevole quantit\ue0 di risorse economiche e sociali e, talvolta, animato un acceso dibattito politico nelle democrazie occidentali. Di fronte alla persistenza di questi fenomeni, alla loro portata e all\u2019attenzione suscitata dal tema della trasformazione della guerra, comprendere cosa siano l\u2019insorgenza e la controinsorgenza, le loro origini e lo sviluppo teorico-dottrinario in ambito occidentale sono passaggi fondamentali nello studio della sicurezza, della sua evoluzione e delle minacce che parrebbero profilarsi nei suoi confronti. Il capitolo si apre con un\u2019analisi dei concetti di insorgenza, guerra rivoluzionaria e guerra di popolo. Concentrandosi sui metodi operativi volti a conquistare il sostegno da parte della popolazione, la trattazione prosegue con lo studio delle scuole di controinsorgenza europee del XX secolo, in particolare quelle britannica e francese. In seguito, quindi, sar\ue0 istituito un nesso tra dottrine tradizionali e la recente esperienza americana in Afghanistan e Iraq attraverso l\u2019analisi dei contributi di Steven Metz (direttore dello US Army War College Strategic Studies Institute) e dell\u2019analista australiano David Kilcullen (consulente del generale David Petraeus nella pianificazione della surge irachena). Infine, il capitolo presenter\ue0 alcune considerazioni sugli eventuali elementi di continuit\ue0 con il passato e le tendenze innovative riscontrabili nella controinsorgenza attuale
Suicide‐attacks are one of the most important aspects of modern conflicts. According to Tosini be... more Suicide‐attacks are one of the most important aspects of modern conflicts. According to Tosini between December 1981 (date of the first suicide‐attack) and December 2010 date of the end of the scholar’s research there have been 2.713 suicide‐attacks worldwide, which have caused about 28.000 deaths. Afghanistan and Iraq play the biggest role: between March 2003 and May 2010 there have been 1321 attacks of this kind in Iraq which have caused more than 13.000 deaths. Since 1981 Afghanistan and Iraq have been reaching 68% of all suicide‐bombings and 55% of all casualties together. These figures show how big an impact the suicide tactics had during the Iraq war, in addition suicide tactics continues to have a main role in Islamic State warfare: for example in January 2015 alone we can count 35 suicide‐attacks in Iraq. Moreover, suicide‐attacks played an important role in other conflicts such as the ones in Lebanon, Israel, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Turkey, Afghanistan, and worldwide attacks ca...
ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has been a key political and military actor in the Mid... more ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has been a key political and military actor in the Middle East and in North Africa. Although it is currently in retreat, it has conquered, controlled, and...
The aim of this article is to understand why there has not been a successful jihadist terrorist a... more The aim of this article is to understand why there has not been a successful jihadist terrorist attack in Italy. While it is impossible to offer a clear and unambiguous explanation, there are some ...
Today, ISIS is a serious security threats in the Mediterranean area; it is active or controls are... more Today, ISIS is a serious security threats in the Mediterranean area; it is active or controls areas in the Middle East (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey) and in North Africa (Libya, Tunisia and Sinai). Media reports and several research papers seem to refer to ISIS as a group that operates indiscriminately in these areas and regions using the same political, military, social, and economic pattern. However, looking closely at some of the theatres of war the situations appears different. Taking into account two case studies, Iraq and Libya, it is possible to see how different social, economic, and political conditions have influenced the ability of ISIS to fight and to rule, and consequently its ability to "remaining and expanding". The comparison between the longer and more linked to social fabric operations in Iraq and the shorter and more alien to social fabric operations in Libya will shed light on weaknesses and strength of ISIS, its future developments, and potentially on operations of other militias. ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) is present both in the Middle East (i.e., Syria, Iraq) and in North Africa (i.e., Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria). Along with similar jihadist militias, such as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Uqbah Ibn Nafi, Ansar al-Sharia and al-Nusra Front, it represents a considerable threat for the entire Mediterranean region in terms of security and stability. The relevance of focusing on ISIS as a case study stems from the fact that it allows for the comparison of its military operations in two different political and military contexts that have influenced both ISIS' capabilities and achievements. Although ISIS is currently in retreat in each theatre of operation, analysing its military operations in different contexts can shed some light on the links between the local environment in which ISIS operates and its ability to achieve their political goals. While, the frequently emphasized supra-regional and global aspects of jihadism are crucial elements in order to understand movements such as ISIS, taking into account the local and security situation is a key aspect for broadening our knowledge of the nature of modern jihadist militias and many of today's conflicts.
Il Politico Rivista Italiana Di Scienze Politiche, 2013
L'articolo analizza l'evoluzione della tattica e strategica COIN (counter-insurgency) neg... more L'articolo analizza l'evoluzione della tattica e strategica COIN (counter-insurgency) negli scritti da Charles Callwell a David Petraeus, passando per Carl von Clausewitz.In early 2012, Charles Edward Callwell\u2019s book Small Wars has been translated for its first time into Italian. At the same time, the world assisted to the downfall of David Petraeus, the general who made possible the recent rise of counterinsurgency in the US strategic narrative and military doctrine. Moving from the analysis of the first \u201cclassic\u201d book on if irregular warfare this article focuses on four major issues. First, it assesses how and why Callwell\u2019s theses are still useful to understand insurgencies in the Twenty-First Century. Second, it looks at how a minimalist approach to counterinsurgency compares and contrasts with current doctrine in the United States. Third, it deals with how domestic constraints can affect some the practice of counterinsurgency. Finally, it places counterinsurgency doctrine fits into the debate of the Westphalian state and its military policy. The article aims to provide the foundations to revisit a classic and stimulate a debate on counterinsurgency, which has been a major undertaking of contemporary armed forces but not yet the object of rigorous academic and public debate in Italy
Abstract Since the end of the Cold War, a huge debate over how war has been changing has emerged;... more Abstract Since the end of the Cold War, a huge debate over how war has been changing has emerged; a common feature is that modern conflicts are not state vs. state wars, but ‘irregular wars’. In order to better understand modern irregular warfare, it is important to analyse past authors and ideas. Carlo Bianco’s concept of Guerra per bande highlights elements of mobility with different cooperating units, of terror, and of complex terrain. The present study offers the first English analysis of Carlo Bianco and underlines the similarities of his work to the hybrid warfare concept.
The War on Terror concept has justified several military inter- ventions during the first fifteen... more The War on Terror concept has justified several military inter- ventions during the first fifteen years of the 21st century and consequently has led to an evolution of US strategic thinking. The aim of this paper is to outline, first, some elements of theWar onTerror strategy that inevitably influencedWestern military operations in the short term; secondly, to analyze geopolitical theaters of war (particularly Iraq) where theWar onTerror has developed.
The essay focuses on the difficulties to define what an irregular conflict is, in order to do so ... more The essay focuses on the difficulties to define what an irregular conflict is, in order to do so the essay is divided into three sections. The first one presents an overview as complete as possible on the theories about how conflicts have changed since the end of the Cold War. The second section will try to highlights how such theories, while taking the credit for a kind of originality, have many forerunners in last three centuries which face similar tactical and strategic issues. To this end, the essay examines the concept of Counterinsurgency (COIN) as it has developed in the mid-twentieth century and then it analyzes some theories between the eighteenth and nineteenth century colonial conflicts relating to the petite guerre. Third section examines the recent conflict carried out by the Islamic State between Syria and Iraq thus highlighting which aspects of the theoretical debate are more pervasive in modern warfare.
Nowadays, the Mediterranean region’s balance of power is challenged by several conflicts and acto... more Nowadays, the Mediterranean region’s balance of power is challenged by several conflicts and actors. Russia has taken advantage of this complex and fluid situation, becoming a key actor, expanding its military involvement, and building up political relationships. A key step in this process has been Russian involvement in the Syrian conflict since September 2015. While this was a surprising development, the paper argues that it is nonethless consistent with Russia’s regional interests and its renewed foreign policy.
Suicide‐attacks are one of the most important aspects of modern conflicts. According to Tosini be... more Suicide‐attacks are one of the most important aspects of modern conflicts. According to Tosini between December 1981 (date of the first suicide‐attack) and December 2010 date of the end of the scholar’s research there have been 2.713 suicide‐attacks worldwide, which have caused about 28.000 deaths. Afghanistan and Iraq play the biggest role: between March 2003 and May 2010 there have been 1321 attacks of this kind in Iraq which have caused more than 13.000 deaths. Since 1981 Afghanistan and Iraq have been reaching 68% of all suicide‐bombings and 55% of all casualties together. These figures show how big an impact the suicide tactics had during the Iraq war, in addition suicide tactics continues to have a main role in Islamic State warfare: for example in January 2015 alone we can count 35 suicide‐attacks in Iraq. Moreover, suicide‐attacks played an important role in other conflicts such as the ones in Lebanon, Israel, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Turkey, Afghanistan, and worldwide attacks can be linked to the global organization of al‐Qaeda. Objectives, political and war situations are very different in these countries, thus the various features of suicide bombings make finding a single explanation for this phenomenon.
ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has become a key political and military actor in the M... more ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has become a key political and military actor in the Middle East and in North Africa. This essay aims at outlining ISIS warfare through an analysis of its operations in the frame of hybrid warfare theory proposed by Frank Hoffman. Therefore, the paper deals with: the role of terrorist tactics in ISIS warfare and the relationship between terrorism and insurgency; ISIS use of technology, mainly with regard to suicide attacks and to drones; and the relevance of urban warfare. Finally, the paper highlights how ISIS operates and the most threatening features of its warfare.
Dopo la fine della Guerra fredda, l\u2019insorgenza e la controinsorgenza hanno caratterizzato in... more Dopo la fine della Guerra fredda, l\u2019insorgenza e la controinsorgenza hanno caratterizzato in maniera crescente sia la politica internazionale sia quella interna. Operazioni come quelle in Somalia, Ruanda, ex Jugoslavia, Congo, sino ai casi dell\u2019Afghanistan e dell\u2019Iraq hanno contribuito a ridefinire la concezione di sicurezza, drenato una notevole quantit\ue0 di risorse economiche e sociali e, talvolta, animato un acceso dibattito politico nelle democrazie occidentali. Di fronte alla persistenza di questi fenomeni, alla loro portata e all\u2019attenzione suscitata dal tema della trasformazione della guerra, comprendere cosa siano l\u2019insorgenza e la controinsorgenza, le loro origini e lo sviluppo teorico-dottrinario in ambito occidentale sono passaggi fondamentali nello studio della sicurezza, della sua evoluzione e delle minacce che parrebbero profilarsi nei suoi confronti. Il capitolo si apre con un\u2019analisi dei concetti di insorgenza, guerra rivoluzionaria e guerra di popolo. Concentrandosi sui metodi operativi volti a conquistare il sostegno da parte della popolazione, la trattazione prosegue con lo studio delle scuole di controinsorgenza europee del XX secolo, in particolare quelle britannica e francese. In seguito, quindi, sar\ue0 istituito un nesso tra dottrine tradizionali e la recente esperienza americana in Afghanistan e Iraq attraverso l\u2019analisi dei contributi di Steven Metz (direttore dello US Army War College Strategic Studies Institute) e dell\u2019analista australiano David Kilcullen (consulente del generale David Petraeus nella pianificazione della surge irachena). Infine, il capitolo presenter\ue0 alcune considerazioni sugli eventuali elementi di continuit\ue0 con il passato e le tendenze innovative riscontrabili nella controinsorgenza attuale
Suicide‐attacks are one of the most important aspects of modern conflicts. According to Tosini be... more Suicide‐attacks are one of the most important aspects of modern conflicts. According to Tosini between December 1981 (date of the first suicide‐attack) and December 2010 date of the end of the scholar’s research there have been 2.713 suicide‐attacks worldwide, which have caused about 28.000 deaths. Afghanistan and Iraq play the biggest role: between March 2003 and May 2010 there have been 1321 attacks of this kind in Iraq which have caused more than 13.000 deaths. Since 1981 Afghanistan and Iraq have been reaching 68% of all suicide‐bombings and 55% of all casualties together. These figures show how big an impact the suicide tactics had during the Iraq war, in addition suicide tactics continues to have a main role in Islamic State warfare: for example in January 2015 alone we can count 35 suicide‐attacks in Iraq. Moreover, suicide‐attacks played an important role in other conflicts such as the ones in Lebanon, Israel, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Turkey, Afghanistan, and worldwide attacks ca...
ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has been a key political and military actor in the Mid... more ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has been a key political and military actor in the Middle East and in North Africa. Although it is currently in retreat, it has conquered, controlled, and...
The aim of this article is to understand why there has not been a successful jihadist terrorist a... more The aim of this article is to understand why there has not been a successful jihadist terrorist attack in Italy. While it is impossible to offer a clear and unambiguous explanation, there are some ...
Today, ISIS is a serious security threats in the Mediterranean area; it is active or controls are... more Today, ISIS is a serious security threats in the Mediterranean area; it is active or controls areas in the Middle East (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey) and in North Africa (Libya, Tunisia and Sinai). Media reports and several research papers seem to refer to ISIS as a group that operates indiscriminately in these areas and regions using the same political, military, social, and economic pattern. However, looking closely at some of the theatres of war the situations appears different. Taking into account two case studies, Iraq and Libya, it is possible to see how different social, economic, and political conditions have influenced the ability of ISIS to fight and to rule, and consequently its ability to "remaining and expanding". The comparison between the longer and more linked to social fabric operations in Iraq and the shorter and more alien to social fabric operations in Libya will shed light on weaknesses and strength of ISIS, its future developments, and potentially on operations of other militias. ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) is present both in the Middle East (i.e., Syria, Iraq) and in North Africa (i.e., Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria). Along with similar jihadist militias, such as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Uqbah Ibn Nafi, Ansar al-Sharia and al-Nusra Front, it represents a considerable threat for the entire Mediterranean region in terms of security and stability. The relevance of focusing on ISIS as a case study stems from the fact that it allows for the comparison of its military operations in two different political and military contexts that have influenced both ISIS' capabilities and achievements. Although ISIS is currently in retreat in each theatre of operation, analysing its military operations in different contexts can shed some light on the links between the local environment in which ISIS operates and its ability to achieve their political goals. While, the frequently emphasized supra-regional and global aspects of jihadism are crucial elements in order to understand movements such as ISIS, taking into account the local and security situation is a key aspect for broadening our knowledge of the nature of modern jihadist militias and many of today's conflicts.
Il Politico Rivista Italiana Di Scienze Politiche, 2013
L'articolo analizza l'evoluzione della tattica e strategica COIN (counter-insurgency) neg... more L'articolo analizza l'evoluzione della tattica e strategica COIN (counter-insurgency) negli scritti da Charles Callwell a David Petraeus, passando per Carl von Clausewitz.In early 2012, Charles Edward Callwell\u2019s book Small Wars has been translated for its first time into Italian. At the same time, the world assisted to the downfall of David Petraeus, the general who made possible the recent rise of counterinsurgency in the US strategic narrative and military doctrine. Moving from the analysis of the first \u201cclassic\u201d book on if irregular warfare this article focuses on four major issues. First, it assesses how and why Callwell\u2019s theses are still useful to understand insurgencies in the Twenty-First Century. Second, it looks at how a minimalist approach to counterinsurgency compares and contrasts with current doctrine in the United States. Third, it deals with how domestic constraints can affect some the practice of counterinsurgency. Finally, it places counterinsurgency doctrine fits into the debate of the Westphalian state and its military policy. The article aims to provide the foundations to revisit a classic and stimulate a debate on counterinsurgency, which has been a major undertaking of contemporary armed forces but not yet the object of rigorous academic and public debate in Italy
Abstract Since the end of the Cold War, a huge debate over how war has been changing has emerged;... more Abstract Since the end of the Cold War, a huge debate over how war has been changing has emerged; a common feature is that modern conflicts are not state vs. state wars, but ‘irregular wars’. In order to better understand modern irregular warfare, it is important to analyse past authors and ideas. Carlo Bianco’s concept of Guerra per bande highlights elements of mobility with different cooperating units, of terror, and of complex terrain. The present study offers the first English analysis of Carlo Bianco and underlines the similarities of his work to the hybrid warfare concept.
The War on Terror concept has justified several military inter- ventions during the first fifteen... more The War on Terror concept has justified several military inter- ventions during the first fifteen years of the 21st century and consequently has led to an evolution of US strategic thinking. The aim of this paper is to outline, first, some elements of theWar onTerror strategy that inevitably influencedWestern military operations in the short term; secondly, to analyze geopolitical theaters of war (particularly Iraq) where theWar onTerror has developed.
The essay focuses on the difficulties to define what an irregular conflict is, in order to do so ... more The essay focuses on the difficulties to define what an irregular conflict is, in order to do so the essay is divided into three sections. The first one presents an overview as complete as possible on the theories about how conflicts have changed since the end of the Cold War. The second section will try to highlights how such theories, while taking the credit for a kind of originality, have many forerunners in last three centuries which face similar tactical and strategic issues. To this end, the essay examines the concept of Counterinsurgency (COIN) as it has developed in the mid-twentieth century and then it analyzes some theories between the eighteenth and nineteenth century colonial conflicts relating to the petite guerre. Third section examines the recent conflict carried out by the Islamic State between Syria and Iraq thus highlighting which aspects of the theoretical debate are more pervasive in modern warfare.
Nowadays, the Mediterranean region’s balance of power is challenged by several conflicts and acto... more Nowadays, the Mediterranean region’s balance of power is challenged by several conflicts and actors. Russia has taken advantage of this complex and fluid situation, becoming a key actor, expanding its military involvement, and building up political relationships. A key step in this process has been Russian involvement in the Syrian conflict since September 2015. While this was a surprising development, the paper argues that it is nonethless consistent with Russia’s regional interests and its renewed foreign policy.
Suicide‐attacks are one of the most important aspects of modern conflicts. According to Tosini be... more Suicide‐attacks are one of the most important aspects of modern conflicts. According to Tosini between December 1981 (date of the first suicide‐attack) and December 2010 date of the end of the scholar’s research there have been 2.713 suicide‐attacks worldwide, which have caused about 28.000 deaths. Afghanistan and Iraq play the biggest role: between March 2003 and May 2010 there have been 1321 attacks of this kind in Iraq which have caused more than 13.000 deaths. Since 1981 Afghanistan and Iraq have been reaching 68% of all suicide‐bombings and 55% of all casualties together. These figures show how big an impact the suicide tactics had during the Iraq war, in addition suicide tactics continues to have a main role in Islamic State warfare: for example in January 2015 alone we can count 35 suicide‐attacks in Iraq. Moreover, suicide‐attacks played an important role in other conflicts such as the ones in Lebanon, Israel, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Turkey, Afghanistan, and worldwide attacks can be linked to the global organization of al‐Qaeda. Objectives, political and war situations are very different in these countries, thus the various features of suicide bombings make finding a single explanation for this phenomenon.
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