David Kilcullen Books

In 1993, a newly-appointed CIA director warned that Western powers might have 'slain a large dragon' with the fall of the USSR, but now faced a 'bewildering variety of poisonous snakes'. Since then, both dragons (state enemies like Russia and China) and snakes (terrorist and guerrilla organisations) have watched the US struggle in Iraq and Afghanistan, and mastered new methods in response: hybrid and urban warfare, political manipulation, and harnessing digital technology.Leading soldier-scholar David Kilcullen reveals everything the West's opponents have learned from twenty-first-century conflict and explains how their cutting-edge tactics and adaptability pose a serious threat to America and its allies, disabling the West's military advantage.The Dragons and the Snakes is a compelling, counterintuitive look at the new, vastly complex global arena. Kilcullen reshapes our understanding of the West's foes, and shows how it can respond.

In The Dragons and the Snakes, David Kilcullen asks what the opponents of the West have learned in the past quarter-century and how they have evolved. He shows how Russia, China, Iran and North Korea developed new tactics by copying terrorists and guerrillas, and how guerrilla groups have been able to access new technologies that allowed them to take on the states that oppose them. More broadly, Kilcullen explains how evolution happens in combat, how states and non-state groups copy each other, how our enemies have sought to exploit our tunnel-vision on terrorism since 9/11, and how we can respond.

David Kilcullen, a leading expert on counterinsurgency and modern warfare, offers a fresh perspective on the War on Terror, shaped by his experience as a Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor to General David Petraeus during the Iraq War. He explores the complexities of contemporary conflicts, highlighting the interplay between global movements and local social networks, as well as traditional and postmodern cultures. Kilcullen argues that America's approach has often blurred the lines between local insurgencies and broader global campaigns, complicating the challenges faced. He identifies "accidental guerrillas"—insurgents with limited aims and legitimate grievances—who are frequently misclassified as part of a coordinated terror network. The book emphasizes the need for the U.S. to disentangle these issues, develop appropriate strategies for global threats, and minimize involvement in local conflicts while effectively addressing them when necessary. With gripping accounts from various conflict zones, Kilcullen's insights are poised to transform our understanding of warfare, making this work essential for anyone concerned about the ongoing war on terror.

'These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world,' said Charlie Wilson, reflecting on America's support for the mujahideen against the Soviet Union, lamenting the lack of post-war support for Afghanistan, which allowed the Taliban and Osama bin Laden to rise. The text examines the West's failures in Afghanistan after 9/11 across military, diplomatic, political, and developmental fronts. For Afghans, the war continues despite Western declarations of its end, with lasting geopolitical consequences. Afghanistan remains interconnected through communication networks established over the past two decades. The authors also draw lessons for future peacebuilding efforts in Africa and beyond. Dr. David Kilcullen and Dr. Greg Mills, both experienced in counter-insurgency and stability operations, reflect on their roles in the international mission and the broader implications of the Afghan conflict. They highlight the persistent signs of impending collapse that were often ignored in favor of a narrative of progress. The Ledger serves as a cautionary tale, emphasizing the human tendency to believe in exceptionalism while warning that political decisions may not heed the lessons of the past, making future crises difficult to avoid.

Focusing on the Surge campaign of 2007 in Iraq, this book features an introduction and annotated tactical case studies that provide insights into its success. An appendix outlines key principles, making it a valuable resource for field officers, students, and general readers interested in military strategy and operations.

David Kilcullen, a leading expert on counterinsurgency and modern warfare, served as a Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor to General David Petraeus in Iraq, significantly influencing America's military strategy during the surge. In this insightful exploration of the War on Terror, Kilcullen offers a fresh perspective, delving into the realities of modern warfare and its connections to various global conflicts, including Iraq, Afghanistan, and North Africa. He identifies a complex interplay of local social networks and global movements, traditional and postmodern cultures, and local insurgencies versus broader pan-Islamic campaigns. Kilcullen warns that U.S. actions have often conflated these dynamics, obscuring the distinction between local and global struggles and complicating the challenges faced. He argues that the U.S. has misidentified insurgents with limited aims and legitimate grievances—whom he terms "accidental guerrillas"—as part of a coordinated global terror network. To address these issues, he emphasizes the need to disentangle these strands, develop effective strategies for global threats, avoid unnecessary local conflicts, and succeed in those that are essential. Rich with gripping battlefield experiences from diverse regions, this work will fundamentally alter perceptions of war and is essential reading for those invested in understanding the complexities of the war on terror.

When Americans think of modern warfare, what comes to mind is the US army skirmishing with terrorists and insurgents in the mountains of Afghanistan. But the face of global conflict is ever-changing. In Out of the Mountains, David Kilcullen, one of the world's leading experts on current and future conflict, offers a groundbreaking look at what may happen after today's wars end. This is a book about future conflicts and future cities, and about the challenges and opportunities that four powerful megatrends-- population, urbanization, coastal settlement, and connectedness-- are creating across the planet. And it is about what cities, communities and businesses can do to prepare for a future in which all aspects of human society--including, but not limited to, conflict, crime and violence--are changing at an unprecedented pace. Kilcullen argues that conflict is increasingly likely to occur in sprawling coastal cities, in peri-urban slum settlements that are enveloping many regions of the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia, and in highly connected, electronically networked settings. He suggests that cities, rather than countries, are the critical unit of analysis for future conflict and that resiliency, not stability, will be the key objective. Ranging across the globe--from Kingston to Mogadishu to Lagos to Benghazi to Mumbai-- he offers a unified theory of "competitive control" that explains how non-state armed groups such as drug cartels, street gangs, and warlords draw their strength from local populations, providing useful ideas for dealing with these groups and with diffuse social conflicts in general. His extensive fieldwork on the ground in a series of urban conflicts suggests that there will be no military solution for many of the struggles we will face in the future. We will need to involve local people deeply to address problems that neither outsiders nor locals alone can solve, drawing on the insight only locals can brin