Introduction
British ways of counter-insurgency
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5724239 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Matthew Hughes (0000-0002-1000-7922, Brunel University of London, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 4-5 |
| Pages | 580-590 |
| Publication date | 2012-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Small Wars and Insurgencies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0959-2318 • E-ISSN: 1743-9558 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09592318.2012.709771 |
| OpenAlex | W2025161404 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 19 |
This essay introduces the special issue, drawing together the different studies around the central theme of the nature of the force used by Britain against colonial insurgents. It argues that the violence employed by British security forces in counter-insurgency to maintain imperial rule is best seen from a maximal perspective, contra traditional arguments that the British used minimum force to defeat colonial rebellions. It shows that the use of force became more difficult especially after the Amritsar massacre in 1919. The presence of white settlers in counter-insurgencies – such as in Kenya in the 1950s – accelerated abuse by security forces and complicated the measured use of force against insurgents by the colonial state. The article concludes by drawing lessons from the British experience of counter-insurgency to unconventional military operations today, suggesting that in some situations the use of maximal force is still an option in counter-insurgency
Colonialism · Criminology · Insurgency · International law · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Security forces · Sociology · Use of force · Law · Military History and Strategy · Military, Security, and Education Studies · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East
The Problem of Sources and Proved Knowledge in History
The Aden Pivot? British Counter-Insurgency after Aden
The British Small Wars against the tribes on India’s northeast frontier, 1826–1870
Assessing Resistance in Morocco
Northern Ireland and minimum force
Myth and the small war tradition
The myth of 'hearts and minds' in cold war Borneo 1962-74
The Algerian War and the French Army, 1954–62
The Past as Prologue
The British Way in Counter-Insurgency, 1945-1967
Paris 1961
The Jurisprudence of Emergency
British Counterinsurgency, 1919–60
Histories of the Hanged
Obedience to authority
Minimum force, British Counter‐Insurgency and the Mau Mau rebellion
The British Army and the Origins of its Minimum Force Philosophy
Hearts and Minds’? British Counter-Insurgency from Malaya to Iraq
A History of Violence
The Banality of Brutality
France and the Algerian War, 1954-1962
Imperial Crime and Punishment
The Myth of British Minimum Force in Counterinsurgency Campaigns during Decolonisation (1945-1970)
Minimum force in British counterinsurgency
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,54 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2026 (14) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |