Terrain Analysis of Afghanistan

Terrain Analysis of Afghanistan PDF Author: Yuliya Smirnova
Publisher: East View
ISBN: 9780974297309
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Terrain Analysis of Afghanistan

Terrain Analysis of Afghanistan PDF Author: Yuliya Smirnova
Publisher: East View
ISBN: 9780974297309
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Book Description


Mapping the Human Terrain in Afghanistan

Mapping the Human Terrain in Afghanistan PDF Author: Kevin R. Golinghorst
Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub
ISBN: 9781479329151
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 78

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Book Description
From the initial invasion in 2001 through the ongoing counterinsurgency (COIN) operations in Afghanistan, the U.S. Army has been challenged with truly understanding the socio-cultural dynamics of the local populace which has become known as the human terrain. The foundational theory, historical examples, and evolving military doctrine related to COIN has continually emphasized the importance of a population-centric approach but has often lacked the necessary detail on how this can be accomplished. In an attempt to help fill this void, the U.S. Army established the Human Terrain System (HTS) in 2006 which met initial resistance and developmental challenges as a new proof of concept program. While concurrent efforts by the Civil Affairs community with their Civil Information Management (CIM) initiatives have made steady progress, the full civil common operating picture at varying levels has yet to be realized. Lastly, the entire Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental, and Multinational (JIIM) community also has much to offer in providing a whole of government approach to understanding the human terrain in Afghanistan. Therefore, the U.S. Army must first integrate both programs, HTS and CIM, internally and then direct increased collaboration within the external JIIM community in order to develop a more comprehensive approach. The ultimate success of combined COIN operations in Afghanistan and the long-term stability of the country depend on the ability to understand this complex human terrain.

Natural Resources in Afghanistan

Natural Resources in Afghanistan PDF Author: John F. Shroder
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0128005459
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 592

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Book Description
Natural Resources in Afghanistan: Geographic and Geologic Perspectives on Centuries of Conflict details Afghanistan's physical geography — namely climate, soils, vegetation, water, hazards, and basic geologic background and terrain landforms — together with details of its rich natural resources, ethnic problems, and relevant past histories. The book couples these details with the challenges of environmental degradation and new environmental management and protection, all of which are considered finally in both pessimistic and optimistic modes. The reader comes away with a nuanced understanding of the issues that are likely to have great affect for this pivotal region of the world for decades to come. With an estimated $1-3 trillion dollars of ore in the ground, and multiple cross-reinforcing cancellations of big Asian power machinations (China, India, Iran, Pakistan), Afghanistan has an opportunity to gain more economic independence. At the same time, however, historic forces of negativity also pull it back toward the chaos and uncertainty that has defined the country and constrained its economic progress for decades. Authored by the world’s foremost expert on the geology and geomorphology of Afghanistan and its lucrative natural resources Aids in the understanding of the physical environment, natural hazards, climate-change situations, and natural resources in one of the most geographically diverse and dangerous terrains in the world Provides new concepts of resource-corridor development in a country with no indigenous expertise of its resources

Military Geography

Military Geography PDF Author: Fouad Sabry
Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
What is Military Geography Military geography is a sub-field of geography that is used by the military, as well as academics and politicians, to understand the geopolitical sphere through the military lens. To accomplish these ends, military geographers consider topics from geopolitics to physical locations influences on military operations and the cultural and economic impacts of a military presence. On a tactical level, a military geographer might put together the terrain and the drainage system below the surface, so a unit is not at a disadvantage if the enemy uses the drainage system to ambush it, especially in urban warfare. On a strategic level, an emerging field of strategic and military geography seeks to understand the changing human and biophysical environments that alter the security and military domains. Climate change, for example, is adding and multiplying the complexity of military strategy, planning and training. Emerging responsibilities for the military to be involved in: protection of civilian populations, women and ethnic groups; provision of humanitarian aid and disaster response (HADR); new technology and domains of training and operations, such as in cybergeography, make military geography a dynamic frontier. If a general desired to be a successful actor in the great drama of war, his first duty is to study carefully the theater of operations so that he may see clearly the relative advantages and disadvantages it presents for himself and his enemies "Baron De Jomini" How you will benefit (I) Insights, and validations about the following topics: Chapter 1: Military geography Chapter 2: Geography of Canada Chapter 3: Geography of Iraq Chapter 4: Geography of Oman Chapter 5: Geography of Pakistan Chapter 6: Geography of Peru Chapter 7: Region Chapter 8: Environmental determinism Chapter 9: Geography of the Soviet Union Chapter 10: Geography of Alberta (II) Answering the public top questions about military geography. Who this book is for Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Military Geography.

Social Science Goes to War

Social Science Goes to War PDF Author: Montgomery McFate
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190613092
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
The Human Terrain System (HTS) was catapulted into existence in 2006 by the US military's urgent need for knowledge of the human dimension of the battlespace in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its centrepiece was embedded groups of mixed military and civilian personnel, known as Human Terrain Teams (HTTs), whose mission was to conduct social science research and analysis and to advise military commanders about the local population. Bringing social science - and actual social scientists - to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was bold and challenging. Despite the controversy over HTS among scholars, there is little good, reliable source material written by those with experience of HTS or about the actual work carried out by teams in theatre. This volume goes beyond the anecdotes, snippets and blogs to provide a comprehensive, objective and detailed view of HTS. The contributors put the program in historical context, discuss the obstacles it faced, analyse its successes, and detail the work of the teams downrange. Most importantly, they capture some of the diverse lived experience of HTS scholars and practitioners drawn from an eclectic array of the social sciences.

The Hardest Place

The Hardest Place PDF Author: Wesley Morgan
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN: 0812985222
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 697

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Book Description
COLBY AWARD WINNER • “One of the most important books to come out of the Afghanistan war.”—Foreign Policy “A saga of courage and futility, of valor and error and heartbreak.”—Rick Atkinson, author of the Liberation Trilogy and The British Are Coming Of the many battlefields on which U.S. troops and intelligence operatives fought in Afghanistan, one remote corner of the country stands as a microcosm of the American campaign: the Pech and its tributary valleys in Kunar and Nuristan. The area’s rugged, steep terrain and thick forests made it a natural hiding spot for local insurgents and international terrorists alike, and it came to represent both the valor and futility of America’s two-decade-long Afghan war. Drawing on reporting trips, hundreds of interviews, and documentary research, Wesley Morgan reveals the history of the war in this iconic region, captures the culture and reality of the conflict through both American and Afghan eyes, and reports on the snowballing missteps—some kept secret from even the troops fighting there—that doomed the American mission. The Hardest Place is the story of one of the twenty-first century’s most unforgiving battlefields and a portrait of the American military that fought there.

Human Terrain System

Human Terrain System PDF Author: Christopher J. Sims
Publisher: Declassified Press
ISBN: 396376435X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
To avoid the footpaths which may have been mined with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), Ryan Evans, a U.S. federal civilian, was walking across a wheat field in Babaji, Helmand Province, in the spring of 2011. Evans was attached to the Royal Highland Fusiliers (2 Scots), C Company, a heavy infantry patrol tasked with providing security in the vicinity. Begun 2 years earlier, the Helmand Food Zone Program was a form of development intervention which offered subsidies, seed, and fertilizers to farmers who replaced lucrative opium cultivation from poppies with growing and harvesting wheat and vegetable crops. Babaji had been in the control of insurgents until a few months earlier and had not received any assistance from the program during the previous year; consequently, there were tensions between the community and British forces. As Evans and the patrol emerged from the field, an Afghan man sitting nearby, clearly irate, shouted in Pashto that the British soldiers had wanted the farmer to grow wheat instead of poppy, and then the same British soldiers walked through their fields. At the immediate level, the encounter demonstrated the direct link between conflict, food security, and local trade, but conflict has many interrelated and mutual dependencies such that the anecdote is instructive on myriad broader milieus. Where, for example, is the tipping point that makes a civilian value creating an expression of discontent to a heavily armed patrol above his immediate physical security? Do livelihoods and cultures affect military strategies? Are there interdependencies between insurgencies, societies, and economies? Does the language of war require a sociological grammar in order to be understood? Armed conflict is a human enterprise such that, by extension, understanding of the human dimension in a given area of operations should be thought integral to planning successful operations...

The Afghan War in 2013: Meeting the Challenges of Transition

The Afghan War in 2013: Meeting the Challenges of Transition PDF Author: Anthony H. Cordesman
Publisher: Center for Strategic & International Studies
ISBN: 1442225009
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 179

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Book Description
After more than a decade of fighting in Afghanistan, the United States and its allies are set to transfer security responsibilities to Afghan forces in 2014. This transition poses many challenges, and much will depend on the future of Afghan politics, governance, corruption, development, security, and economics. How the United States manages the transition is vital for any hopes of creating a secure Afghanistan, as well as preventing the reemergence of the Taliban and other terrorist groups. The Afghan War in 2013 honestly assesses the benefits, costs, and risks involved in transition. It is essential reading for an in-depth understanding of the complex forces and intricacies of the United States’ role in Afghanistan and the difficulties involved in creating a stable Afghanistan in 2014 and beyond. Afghanistan is still at war and will probably be at war long after 2014. At the same time, the coming cuts in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and cuts in military and civil aid, along with the country’s fractious politics and insecurity, will interact with a wide range of additional factors that threaten to derail the transition. These factors, examined in this three-volume study, highlight the need to make the internal political, governmental, economic, and security dimensions of the transition as effective as possible. This will require a new degree of realism about what the Afghans can and cannot accomplish, about the best approaches to shaping the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), and the need for better planned and managed outside aid.

The Human Terrain System

The Human Terrain System PDF Author: Christopher J. Sims
Publisher: Department of the Army
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 528

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Book Description
The Human Terrain System embedded civilians primarily in brigade combat teams (BCTs) in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2007 and 2014 to act as a collection and dispersal mechanism for sociocultural comprehension. Set against the backdrop of the program's evolution, the experiences of these social scientists clarifies the U.S. Army's decision to integrate social scientists at the tactical level in conflict. Based on interviews, program documents, material from Freedom of Information Act requests, and secondary sources, this book finds a series of limiting factors inhibiting social science research at the tactical level, common to both Iraq and Afghanistan. Complexity in integrating civilians into the military decision-making cycle, in creating timely research with a high level of fidelity, and in making granular research that resonated with brigade staff all contributed to inhibiting the overall effect of the Human Terrain System. Yet, while high operational tempo in contested spaces complicates social science research at the tactical level, the author argues that there is a continued requirement for a residual capability to be maintained by the U.S. Army. Related items: Other resources produced by the Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/agency/1609 Weapon of Choice: U.S. Army Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00431-3 Counterinsurgency Leadership in Afghanistan, Iraq and Beyond can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-046-00274-6 Surging South of Baghdad: The 3d Infantry Division and Task Force MARNE in Iraq, 2007-2008 can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00522-1 Iraq and Persian Gulf Wars collection can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/us-military-history/battles-wars/iraq-persian-gulf-wars Training Humans for the Human Domain can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-000-01173-7 Paid to Perform: Aligning Total Military Compensation With Talent Management can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/node/49300/edit The Effective Use of Reserve Personnel in the U.S. Military: Lessons From The United Kingdom Reserve Model can be found at this link: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-000-01100-1 Afghanistan War collection can be found here: https: //bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/us-military-history/wars-conflicts/afghanistan-war

Afghanistan : Selected References

Afghanistan : Selected References PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Afghanistan
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description