Knjižnično-informacijski in založniški center

Predstavitev zbornika Soldiers without frontiers: The view from the ground. Experiences of asymmetric warfare

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Datum objave

Knjižnično-informacijski in založniški center MO RS vas vabi na predstavitev zbornika »Soldiers without frontiers: The view from the ground. Experiences of asymmetric warfare«, ki bo v sredo, 16. aprila, ob 13. uri v avditoriju nekdanje vojaške gimnazije na Vojkovi 55 a.

Svoje prispevke bodo predstavili avtorji Uroš Svete, Jelena Juvan, Janja Vuga in Rok Zupančič.

Vljudno vabljeni!

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The book presents and analyzes the data of a cross-national comparative research conducted among military personnel from nine different countries who had taken part in operations in asymmetric warfare environments. For the participating soldiers this new form of war, on which a vast international literature now exists (amply cited in the book),entails a challenging adaptation to living and fighting conditions that are very different from operations in the conventional environments experienced in the past. The fact of having to operate in the midst of civilians, among whom the insurgents are often mixed, on the behalf of civilian populations whose hearts and minds must be won over, and avoiding any collateral damage, even at the cost of putting one’s personal safety at risk, constitutes a new and problematical aspect for the deployed forces. This is especially true for the countries examined in this study, small and medium powers for the most part without recent combat experiences. The choice of the participating countries avoided involving countries with greater experience in the field, on which a satisfactory amount of literature and research data already existed. The countries included in this study were therefore Bulgaria, Denmark, Italy, the Philippines, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and Turkey. The sample examined by means of semi-structured interviews is made up of 542 soldiers of all categories (officers, non-coms, rank and file) and all the services. It is therefore sufficiently representative of the investigated universe. The data analysis was carried out in a comparative manner, both among the different countries and the different services, for the various examined aspects, which were:

• first impression upon arriving in the theatre of operations
• views on the rules of engagement
• operational experiences
• assessment of received training
• interaction with the other actors present on the territory (local armed forces, soldiers of other coalition countries, civil society, international organizations, press, etc.)
• reasons for participating and satisfaction with the choice
• psychological stress endured during and after the mission

This was an analysis centred on the human aspects of involvement in the missions, giving voice to the impressions, sensations and experiences of individual soldiers in their vivacity, simplicity and, at times, dramatic force, so as to put the reader in the position of participating observer and immerse him in a realistic, documented picture of the particular environment of asymmetric conflict.  A series of chapters devoted to the military of each participating country helps the reader understand the particular historical and functional reality of the single national armed forces so as to allow better interpretation of the research data. These data are included on a web site which can be freely consulted by the book’s readers in order to enable all interested researchers to make verifications and further breakdowns.