Wars Less About Ideas Than Extreme Tribalism

[Bowman]

And "Insurgents,Terrorists and Militias"

Lordy do those books look good ! Thanks for the heads up .


I see MCA stocks the latter book , usual sources doesn't seem to
carry " The Tribal Way of War" yet .

[Tom Odom]

Because Mr. Shultz and Ms. Dew take tribes seriously, they don't stereotype them. The whole point of this book is that, because each tribal culture is unique, each will fight in its own way; it is a matter of knowing what a culture is truly capable of once it feels itself threatened. Thus the heart of the book is case studies....

I reiterate my 2 rules of cross-cultural understanding and relations:

1. They don't think like you do...
2. They have an agenda in all they do with you...

As in this case, they don't fight the way we do and their agenda in fighting does not equate to our campaign plan objectives. Hopefully this book on case studies will illuminate those thoughts. I know that the reason I took anthropology as a minor was the opportunity to look at various cultures through a lens colored by value-laden judgements or assumptions.

Best,
Tom