Research Catalog

African wars : a defense intelligence perspective / William G. Thom.

Title: African wars : a defense intelligence perspective / William G. Thom.
Author: Thom, William G., 1945-
Publication: Calgary : University of Calgary Press, c2010.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Filter by

1 Item

Item details
Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Request in advance	UA855.7 .T46 2010	Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xvii, 257 p. : ill., map, ports; 23 cm.

Summary

During the past forty years, Africa south of the Sahara has been the most conflict-prone region of the world. Yet in spite of its growing geopolitical importance, both as a resource base and as an emerging factor in the U.S.-led 'war on terror', it remains one of the least understood. This book provides a concise summary of four decades of warfare in sub-Saharan Africa, with expert commentary by an experienced and highly respected senior U.S. intelligence officer. As a defence analyst and eventually senior Africa specialist in the U.S. Defence Intelligence Agency, William Thom acquired unique in-depth knowledge of conflict in this vast and troubled region. Ranging from postcolonial insurgency in Rhodesia to ongoing strife in the Horn of Africa, from the horrors of Rwanda and the Congo to devastating civil wars in Angola, Mozambique, and Liberia, the book tracks seventeen different conflicts, many of which have a continuing influence on the continent's political-military affairs today. Thom complements his penetrating and often gripping accounts of specific wars with valuable wide-ranging impressions, in particular the often surprising adaptability of combatant groups to their material and political environments, and the frustrating marginalisation of Africa within security circles during this period. This is also a lively memoir, as Thom brings a wealth of detail, personal insight, and wit to the story of his training and education as an intelligence officer, the difficulties and oddities of travelling in Africa, and his skirmishes with the intelligence bureaucracy. Anyone interested in African security issues, contemporary warfare, or military intelligence will find this book a vital and timely discovery. -- Product Description.

Series Statement

Africa, missing voices series ;vno. 7
ADST-DACOR diplomats and diplomacy series

Uniform Title

ADST-DACOR diplomats and diplomacy series
Africa, missing voices series ; no. 7.

Subject

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (p. [241]-245) and index.

Processing Action (note)

committed to retain

Contents

The making of a defense intelligence analyst -- Assignment EUCOM J-2, 1977-1980 -- The war for resources -- and briefing VIPs -- Threats to internal security : optimists versus pessimists -- Counter-insurgency in southern Africa, 1961-1974 -- Civil war in Angola -- South Africa : the white redoubt -- Mozambique : the RENAMO war, 1978-1992 -- Two surprising East African wars -- Two antagonistic regimes collapse -- Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Sudan in the 1990s -- Two improbable conflicts : Zaire (Congo) and Chad -- The Great Lakes crises : Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo -- Vicious civil conflicts in West Africa -- African wars I did not get to know.

ISBN

9781552382738
1552382737

OCLC

648936201

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library