The insurgent archipelago

"As a young officer in the British Gurkha regiment, John Mackinlay experienced first hand a Maoist-style insurgency in the rain forests of North Bomeo during the 1960s. Years later, as a UN researcher, he witnessed the chaotic deployment of international forces to Africa, the Balkans and South Asia. He is thus well qualified to investigate insurgencies of the modern era." "After 9/11 his interest turned to the Muslim communities in Europe and government efforts to secure their own populations against terrorism. In particular he set out to understand the impact of military expeditions to Iraq and Afghanistan on the social cohesion of the European multicultural populations that now included Muslim communities from those regions. In a world divided between rich and poor, the surest way for the 'bottom billion' to win recognition, express outrage and improve their circumstances has been through insurgency, and Mackinlay explains why the leaders of the wealthiest and most powerful nations habitually fail to understand the relevance of this phenomenon. In this light bin Laden's era is best understood as but one stage in the evolution of a global insurgency." "The territorial insurgencies of the 1960s are on the same trajectory as the global movements of tomorrow, while the shift to 'propaganda of the deed', suicide bombings, and acts of mass terrorism began several decades ago." "In conclusion Mackinlay asks why Western military and security staffs failed to anticipate these developments and discusses whether they will improve their game before the next chapter in the evolution of insurgency."--Jacket.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Philosophy, Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.