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9781032219646

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"""The book offers a thought-provoking contribution to the debate about who fights in war and how we can understand these actors and their agency. It provides an ideal type categorisation, which is illustrated by case material from the African conflicts; recommended reading!"" Isabelle Duyvesteyn, Professor of International Studies and Global History, Leiden University, The Netherlands ""Combatants in African Conflicts demonstrates that Carl von Clausewitz’s trinitarian understanding of war is highly relevant to contemporary warfare in Africa. The book’s careful application of lessons from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European history and beyond to conflict parties in Africa’s post-colonial wars results in a wealth of thought-provoking insights."" Henning Tamm, University of St Andrews, UK ""Simon Taylor’s book provides much-needed conceptual clarity over our contemporary understanding of combatants in Africa and beyond. It is not the least of its merits that it should do so strongly resting on African military history."" Henri Michel Yéré, Centre for African Studies, University of Basel, Switzerland ""Combatants in African Conflicts attempts to bring new thinking and nuances to some existing and emerging actors in African conflicts past and present. The book starts by outlining why understanding the difference in the types of actors or combatants is vital to reflect on. This is developed through ‘five types of armed actors: professionals, Praetorians, Militias, Insurgents and Mercenaries’. [...] This allows the analysis and, more broadly speaking, the field of security studies to be able to ‘provide avenues for more in-depth analysis of such conflicts’, which have implications for security studies reform projects and peacebuilding programmes."" Andrew E. Yaw Tchie, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Oslo, Norway"

"""The book offers a thought-provoking contribution to the debate about who fights in war and how we can understand these actors and their agency. It provides an ideal type categorisation, which is illustrated by case material from the African conflicts; recommended reading!"" Isabelle Duyvesteyn, Professor of International Studies and Global History, Leiden University, The Netherlands ""Combatants in African Conflicts demonstrates that Carl von Clausewitz’s trinitarian understanding of war is highly relevant to contemporary warfare in Africa. The book’s careful application of lessons from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European history and beyond to conflict parties in Africa’s post-colonial wars results in a wealth of thought-provoking insights."" Henning Tamm, University of St Andrews, UK ""Simon Taylor’s book provides much-needed conceptual clarity over our contemporary understanding of combatants in Africa and beyond. It is not the least of its merits that it should do so strongly resting on African military history."" Henri Michel Yéré, Centre for African Studies, University of Basel, Switzerland"

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Simon David Taylor is a former Senior Foreign Service officer at the South African Department of International Relations and Co-operation and holds a Master of Social Science from the University of Cape Town and a PhD in International Relations from the University of St Andrews, Scotland. He writes on African history, diplomacy, terrorism, and security issues.

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