J. Bowyer Bell (1931-2003) was professor of international relations at Columbia University and president of International Analysis Center. He focused on problems of unconventional law, terrorism, deception, and crisis management. He was also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and recipient of more than seven Guggenheim Fellowships. Bell's consultancy firm, The International Analysis Centre, which he founded, focused on problems of terrorism, deception, risk analysis, and crisis management and had many governmental clients including the United States Department of the State and the Central Intelligence Agency.
"In this engaging and unconventional book, Bell declares that dragonwars are a growth area. That is not good news. For Bell, the dragonworld is the underground. The wars that take place in this world are not the "proper wars" the US military would prefer to plan for, but they are everything else: dirty little wars, revolution, civil war, insurrection, insurgency, rebellion, subversion, revolt, national liberation campaigns, tribalism, banditry, terrorism, pogroms, and chaos... Bell examines the revolutionary ecosystems--"the design and determinants"--of this underground, the faiths that motivate its protagonists, the dynamics of the struggles between orthodox centers and irregular challengers, the ineffectiveness of conventional responses to unconventional challenges, and the obstacles to effective response posed by the American way of war... For professionals and practitioners."
--A. L. Ross, Choice
"In this engaging and unconventional book, Bell declares that dragonwars are a growth area. That is not good news. For Bell, the dragonworld is the underground. The wars that take place in this world are not the "proper wars" the US military would prefer to plan for, but they are everything else: dirty little wars, revolution, civil war, insurrection, insurgency, rebellion, subversion, revolt, national liberation campaigns, tribalism, banditry, terrorism, pogroms, and chaos... Bell examines the revolutionary ecosystems--"the design and determinants"--of this underground, the faiths that motivate its protagonists, the dynamics of the struggles between orthodox centers and irregular challengers, the ineffectiveness of conventional responses to unconventional challenges, and the obstacles to effective response posed by the American way of war... For professionals and practitioners."
--A. L. Ross, Choice
-In this engaging and unconventional book, Bell declares that dragonwars are a growth area. That is not good news. For Bell, the dragonworld is the underground. The wars that take place in this world are not the -proper wars- the US military would prefer to plan for, but they are everything else: dirty little wars, revolution, civil war, insurrection, insurgency, rebellion, subversion, revolt, national liberation campaigns, tribalism, banditry, terrorism, pogroms, and chaos... Bell examines the revolutionary ecosystems---the design and determinants---of this underground, the faiths that motivate its protagonists, the dynamics of the struggles between orthodox centers and irregular challengers, the ineffectiveness of conventional responses to unconventional challenges, and the obstacles to effective response posed by the American way of war... For professionals and practitioners.-
--A. L. Ross, Choice