You guys: I defended my PhD Friday. Grateful it went ahead (v Skype) - and unbelievably grateful it's finally *done*
Inspired by @dbyman & @azelin I thought I’d tweet out some pieces/authors that made thesis thinking/writing worthwhile, bearable and occasionally even fun
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Insurgent control isn’t black/white. It's not even necessarily about controlling territory. Color-coded maps provide the illusion of sound analysis but that's not how the real war is waged.
@judithverweijen@KasperHoffmann2 nail this on the head:https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article-abstract/118/471/352/5102473 …Näytä tämä ketju -
I can’t believe I hadn’t read this earlier.
@jmurtazashvili blows apart many myths about ‘ungoverned spaces’ (imo not a thing) and customary authority in war. Nuanced, rigorously researched, applicable far beyond Afghanistanhttps://www.cambridge.org/core/books/informal-order-and-the-state-in-afghanistan/5B0FB8D4B407988910AE737DB46C0E66 …Näytä tämä ketju -
Huge sigh of relief when I read
@steven_metz on why people join insurgencies. It strains the bounds of typology b/c its messy, complicated Much like the thing it describes. (Which is probably why it's more useful most other typologies I've read...) http://smallwarsjournal.com/print/12195Näytä tämä ketju -
It’s important to have fierce role models in the academic wilderness. And no one is fiercer than the Notorious Nancy Hatch Dupree. So sharp, so much fun to read, so much love and respect for her subject and for Afghanistan. This is one of my favorites: http://www.afghandata.org:8080/xmlui/handle/azu/3092 …
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NHD also helped establish @ackuafghanistan -- which is an absolute gift to scholars I spent many hours (procrastinating?) trawling through the catalog. Many vital docs, primary sources I couldn’t find or didn’t even know existed are opensource here http://acku.edu.af
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I used negotiation theory to describe how Talibs and civilians bargain with each other. I built a framework from scratch, so it’s a bit of a patchwork quilt of behavioral theory -- snippets from Ury, Lewiski, Fisher, etc. But this was monumental: https://courses.washington.edu/pbafhall/514/514%20Readings/Malhotra%20&%20Bazerman%202008.pdf …
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In a world full of quantitative work on civil wars, qualitative work can feel passé. During times of doubt (usually at academic confs),
@stephenwalt reassured me that I was on the right path. Also one of the best academic burns I’ve ever read... https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/waltvol23no4.pdf …Näytä tämä ketju -
But, ideally, quantitative + qualitative work should complement each other. Praise be for these two rigorous, well-grounded pieces, which confirmed/deepened my thinking and raised new questions (thx
@renardsexton &@jaylyall_red5!) 1)https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/aid-as-a-tool-against-insurgency-evidence-from-contested-and-controlled-territory-in-afghanistan/0761F158DE4D06404CE5E04C2A723BC3 …Näytä tämä ketju -
The point of my PhD is meant to be that civilians – underestimated, ignored as they are – shape the conduct and outcome of civil wars. The people I talked to obviously schooled me more than any book so when stuck, I went back to their voices. But…
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I also turned to civilian accounts of other wars (who, again, taught more than much else of what I read). This is the best books about war that I have ever, will ever read https://bookdepository.com/Woman-Berlin-Anonymous/9781844087976 … Also on Kindle (But trust me, you’ll want to skip Anthony Beevor’s introduction.)
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Last one: Bernard Fall. Street without Joy is a revelation. I felt like I was reading about the Taliban (oh, the irony) And Fall's own story is extraordinary (I don't know this guy, but he damn well better hurry up and publish his bio of Fall) https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/rethinking-bernard-falls-legacy-persistent-relevance-revolutionary-warfare-part-i …
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