Peacekeeping in the Abyss: British and American Peacekeeping Doctrine and Practice after the Cold War

(Hardback)

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Military organizations are cultures, and such cultures have ingrained preferences and predilections for how and when to employ force. This is the first study to use a comparative framework to understand what happened with the U.S. military endeavor in Somalia and the British effort in Bosnia up to 1995. Both regions were potential quagmires, and no doctrine for armed humanitarian operations during ongoing conflicts existed at the outset of these efforts. After detailing the impact of military culture on operations, Cassidy draws conclusions about which military cultural traits and force structures are more suitable and adaptable for peace operations and asymmetric conflicts. He also offers some military cultural implications for the U.S. Army's ongoing transformation. The first part of the study offers an in-depth assessment of the military cultural preferences and characteristics of the British and American militaries. It shows that Britain's geography, its regimental system, and a long history of imperial policing have helped embed a small-war predilection in British military culture. This distinguishes it from American military culture, which has exhibited a preference for the big-war paradigm since the second half of the 19th century. The second part of the book examines how cultural preferences influenced the conduct of operations and the development of the first post-Cold War doctrine for peace operations.

Reviews

.,."[A] splendid contribution to the growing literature on the US Army viewed as a profession. Cassidy has laid bare, for better or for worse, the powerful influence of military-strategic culture when armies adapt. More importantly, this comparative study of the British and American armies, with its rigorous focus on the new task of "armed humanitarian operations," provides exceptional insights into how, and why, these two armies will be able to lead the "coalitions of the willing" in the future. A must read for leaders on both sides of the civilian-military relationship."-Don M. Snider, West Point co-editor of The Future of the Army Profession
[A]n excellent study....[v]ery important.-Royal United Services Institute Journal
[W]ill be of most interest to professional military audiences....Professionals and practitioners.-Choice
Readers will appreciate this book's well-researched facts and analysis, but my strong recommendation to read it is based rather on the applicability of the questions it raises to current operations. The concepts, historical facts, and recommendations succinctly laid out by Lieutenant Colonel Cassidy will surely add strength and substance to the ongoing transformation efforts partially aimed at boosting the US military from its peace operations and small wars abyss.-Parameters
The volume is strongly recommended for students of peace operations, as it is well crafted and draws on extensive primary sources and secondary research.-The Journal of Military History
[A]n excellent study....[v]ery important.Royal United Services Institute Journal
"An excellent study....very important."-Royal United Services Institute Journal
"Will be of most interest to professional military audiences....Professionals and practitioners."-Choice
"[A]n excellent study....[v]ery important."-Royal United Services Institute Journal
"[W]ill be of most interest to professional military audiences....Professionals and practitioners."-Choice
"The volume is strongly recommended for students of peace operations, as it is well crafted and draws on extensive primary sources and secondary research."-The Journal of Military History
"Readers will appreciate this book's well-researched facts and analysis, but my strong recommendation to read it is based rather on the applicability of the questions it raises to current operations. The concepts, historical facts, and recommendations succinctly laid out by Lieutenant Colonel Cassidy will surely add strength and substance to the ongoing transformation efforts partially aimed at boosting the US military from its peace operations and small wars abyss."-Parameters

Author Bio

ROBERT M. CASSIDY, U.S. Army, is a Special Assistant with the U.S. Army Europe Commanding General's Initiatives Group. He is a graduate of the French Joint Defense College. He has served as a squadron executive officer for a heavy division cavalry squadron, as assistant professor of international relations at West Point, and as a cavalry troop commander in the 82nd Airborne Division. He has a Ph.D. in international security from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.