There is always the pull back and forth between practitioners and academics. They criticize each other for being too narrowly or broadly focused and ignoring the other side.
Andrew Exum's excellent blog Abu Muqawama, dedicated mostly to counter-insurgency, as well as many other interesting topics, was recently criticized by a commenter for losing its academic focus.
While I agree with the idea that there should be more up-to-date readings recommended on his subjects, I don't think focussing more on academics alone will help. Academics, just like everyone else, also have a tendency to get their heads stuck up their asses and ignore realities on the ground. I find it particularly frustrating when professors or others insist they have the right perscrption for success in a place they have no first-hand experience or practical knowledge of. I find this particularly true in the field of development, which is receiving more and more attention from those working in security and counterinsurgency as well as counterterrorism.
Theory in development, such as the rather basic idea of collective-action problems, may help practitioners to understand that it is difficult to get groups to act together in their mutual interest, however the extremely different environments and conditions where practioners work never align with theoretical progressions of events.
In short, we need diverse sources of information and to always be on the look out for new ideas in many places, be they academia, the private sector, NGOs, IOs and others. There are myriad factors affecting the success and failure of terrorist, development or military campaigns.
No comments:
Post a Comment