Africa: Irregular Warfare on the Dark Continent

Abstract

If there ever was an environment that will test irregular warfare (IW) concepts, it is Africa. There are protracted conflicts-some that come with centuries of history, intricate tribal animosities fueled by greed and corruption and exacerbated by outside powers. While there are countries with large armies, none boast the range of high technology found in other areas of the world. Most of the casualties-and the numbers are horrific-come from small arms, even from spears and machetes. Present in some areas on the continent are some artillery pieces and fighter aircraft, but nothing that would counter the U.S. military on a force-on-force confrontation. Yet our experience shows that even overwhelming technology may not win the day. Given that Africa is rising rapidly in our national interests, we must explore its complex environment.1

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2009
Accession Number
ADA514538

Entities

People

  • John B. Alexander

Organizations

  • Joint Special Operations University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Cyber
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Asymmetric Warfare
  • Employment
  • Ethnic Groups
  • Foreign Relations
  • Human Population
  • International Relations
  • Military Science
  • National Governments
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Systems
  • Public Policy
  • Societies
  • United States Africa Command
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.