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öööWORK TITLE: The Great War and the Middle East
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S): Johnson, Robert
BIRTHDATE: 1967
WEBSITE:
CITY: Oxford, England
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: British
http://www.pmb.ox.ac.uk/fellows-staff/profiles/dr-rob-johnson * http://www.ccw.ox.ac.uk/rob-johnson/ * https://www.politics.ox.ac.uk/associates/robert-johnson.html * https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-johnson-b7646719/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1967.
EDUCATION:Oxford University, B.A., Ph.D.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, academic, administrator, adviser. Oxford University, Changing Character of War Centre, England, current director, senior research fellow, Pembroke College, 2008–, Associate of the Department of Politics and International Relations.
MIILITARY:Former soldier.
WRITINGS
Contributor of numerous articles to journals of of chapters to scholarly books.
SIDELIGHTS
Rob Johnson is the Director of the Oxford Changing Character of War Centre and Senior Research Fellow of Pembroke College at Oxford University. In addition to his administrative duties and research, Johnson also advises governments and armed forces around the world on the issues of security, stabilization and strategy. His research focuses on the history of strategy and war and the manner in which these are utilized in contemporary settings. He has written or edited over a dozen books on these subjects, including Oil, Islam and Conflict: Central Asia since 1945, The Iran-Iraq War, Outnumbered, Outgunned, Undeterred: Twenty Battles Against All Odds, and The Great War and the Middle East.
Oil, Islam and Conflict
Johnson’s 2007 study, Oil, Islam and Conflict, looks at the history and the tenuous future of Central Asian countries such as Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Tajikistan, among a host of others stretching from far Western China to the borders of Russia. Johnson examines a powerful brew of unrest and political instability mixed with oil and gas reserves making this region what Johnson dubs the “new Middle East.” At the time of writing, the Taliban were resurgent in Afghanistan, Chechnya was still struggling with its own level of violence, there was a civil war in Tajikistan, and Islamic terrorist movements were also at work in a number of the nations of the region. The author further looks at that web of tensions created by new wealth from reserves, ethnic disparities, and political maneuverings and their effect on human rights and economic development.
Reviewing Oil, Islam and Conflict in the Historian, Caesar E. Farah noted: “This study is a thorough and updated account of the trials and tribulations encompassing the newly liberated Central Asian states.” Farah added: “[It] is essential reading for policy planners and researchers, as well as those who seek to combat terrorism and secure much-needed oil resources and accessibility to western markets. Useful aids include a map of the central Asian region, a bibliography for each chapter with much emphasis on data derived from the Internet, and an index.” Writing in Insight Turkey, Hasan Ali Karasar similarly felt the work “provides an excellent introduction to the region.” Karasar further commented that this book is an “important contribution to the study of the region, especially given Rob Johnson’s unique handling of a long list of parameters and his meticulous selectiveness.” A more cautionary assessment was offered by Journal of Islamic Studies writer Shirin Akiner, who commented: “[T]his work is not based on primary sources, which are then carefully sifted and analysed. Rather, it appears to have been conceived as a handy guide for those who have no time or desire to penetrate more deeply into issues that are topical but, by their very nature, not easy to unravel. The intention was no doubt laudable, aimed at providing quick answers to difficult questions. There is a market for such works. Nevertheless, they should be treated with caution, because they not only oversimplify, they also over-dramatize, complex issues. Far from leading to a better understanding of the world, they risk creating more confusion and obfuscation.”
The Iran-Iraq War
In The Iran-Iraq War, Johnson examines the major issues that brought those two countries to a long, bloody, and costly battle with each other. The eight-year conflict ultimately shaped further conflicts in the region, according to Johnson. These included the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1991 and the subsequent conflict, as well as the invasion of Iraq in 2003. “Although Johnson claims that the time is ripe for a reappraisal of the conflict illuminated by over two decades of hindsight, the book relies too heavily on aging secondary sources and not enough on newly available primary ones,” according to Micah Levinson writing in the Middle East Quarterly.
Reviewing The Iran-Iraq War in Choice, M. Gershovich had a higher assessment, noting that “it is useful to revisit the war that in many ways set these later developments.” Similarly, War in History reviewer Kaushik Roy observed: “Johnson rightly says that the Iran-Iraq War was a war of illusions. Moreover, the author correctly shows that the land war was more important than the sporadic conflict in the Persian Gulf. … Credit is due to Johnson for writing an information-rich narrative of one of the greatest conflicts of the post-Second World War era.”
Outnumbered, Outgunned, Undeterred
In Outnumbered, Outgunned, Undeterred, Johnson looks at twenty different battles throughout history in which military forces have won despite overwhelming odds against them. The examples range from 1777 to the present day, and begin with George Washington’s fight against the British. Other cases include Simon Bolivar’s liberation of South America, the defense of Stalingrad in 1943, the Israeli defense of the Golan Heights in 1973, and battles in Afghanistan in the twenty-first century, among many others.
“Readers interested in exciting stories of bravery and tales featuring plucky common soldiers will discover a pleasant diversion,” commented Historian reviewer Jeanne T. Heidler of Outnumbered, Outgunned, Undeterred. Similarly, Frank Kalesnik, writing in Journal of Military History, observed: “Overall, Outnumbered, Outgunned, and Undeterred was an interesting book. Casual readers, students, and military professionals should all find it useful. The guide to further reading is especially valuable, as it is organized by chapter, making this volume a good guide to further study. This reviewer looks forward to reading more of Rob Johnson’s work.”
The Great War & the Middle East
Johnson’s 2016 work, The Great War & the Middle East, offers a detailed look all the military action occurring in the Middle East during World War I. Johnson goes against received opinion about the effect of Great Power manipulation in subsequent events, arguing instead that events were largely determined by people from the region itself. Johnson also argues that far from being a side-show to the real battles of World War I in Europe, the war in the Middle East was of vital concern to imperial intentions.
Military Review Online contributor Scott Stephenson had praise for The Great War & the Middle East, noting: “In exploring a theater overshadowed by events on Western Front, the author does the historiography of the Great War real service. Among the many books that mark the centennial of the First World War, this is one with enduring value and is highly recommended.” Similarly, a Publishers Weekly reviewer commented, “The broad view and strategic focus of Johnson’s extensively researched study make it a valuable addition to the history of WWI.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Choice, August, 2011. M. Gershovich, review of The Iran-Iraq War, p. 2381.
Historian, fall, 2009, Caesar E. Farah, review of Oil, Islam and Conflict: Central Asia since 1945, p. 588; winter, 2012, Jeanne T. Heidler, review of Outnumbered, Outgunned, Undeterred: Twenty Battles Against All Odds, p. 907.
Insight Turkey, 2008, Hasan Ali Karasar, review of Oil, Islam and Conflict, p. 166.
Journal of Islamic Studies, fall, 2009, Shirin Akiner, review of Oil, Islam and Conflict, p. 455.
Journal of Military History, January, 2012, Frank Kalesnik, review of Outnumbered, Outgunned, Undeterred, p. 239.
Journal of Shi’a Islamic Studies, summer, 2011, Dagi Dagiev, review of Oil, Islam and Conflict, p. 351.
Library Journal, October 15, 2011, Ben Malczewski, review of Outnumbered, Outgunned, Undeterred, p. 95.
Middle East Quarterly, fall, 2011, Micah Levinson, review of The Iran-Iraq War, p. 93.
Publishers Weekly, October 24, 2016, review of The Great War and the Middle East, p. 71.
Reference & Research Book News, December, 2011. review of Outnumbered, Outgunned, Undeterred: Twenty Battles Against All Odds.
War in History, November, 2012, Kaushik Roy, review of The Iran-Iraq War, p. 535.
ONLINE
Military Review, http://www.armyupress.army.mil/ (August 7, 2017), Scott Stephenson, review of The Great War and the Middle East.
Pembroke College, Oxford Website, http://www.pmb.ox.ac.uk/ (June 20, 207), “Robert Johnson.”
University of Oxford Website, https://www.politics.ox.ac.uk/ (June 20, 2017), “Robert Johnson.”*
Robert Johnson
Director of the Changing Character of War Programme at Oxford University, UK
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Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson
(PhD, BA Hons)
Post:Director of the Changing Character of War Centre
Affiliation:IR
Email:Robert.Johnson@pmb.ox.ac.uk
Phone: 0044 (0) 1865 276 458
College:Pembroke College
Website: http://www.ccw.ox.ac.uk./
Office Address: Pembroke College, St Aldate's, Oxford OX1 1DW
Dr Rob Johnson is the Director of the Changing Character of War (CCW) research program at Oxford. The CCW Programme brings together academics, policy makers and armed forces professionals in the study of armed conflict and its consequences, pursuing a variety of research themes including the future character of armed conflict, violent non-state actors, civil-military relations, strategy and decision-making, technological developments, and the moral-legal dimensions of war. Rob Johnson’s primary research interests are in the history of strategy and war, and how these are understood and utilised in contemporary applications.
Rob acts as a specialist advisor to governments and international armed forces on security, stabilisation and strategy. He has run ‘Insight and Understanding’ courses for a number of agencies on areas of security interest. He is author The Afghan Way of War (Oxford University Press, 2011), as well as several other works on conflicts in the Middle East, Asia and Europe. He has examined the problems of strategy in a variety of contexts and publications, and draws attention to the local perspectives as well as the difficulties of forming judgements based on a selective reading of history or on the misuse of theories of international relations and politics. In an article in Parameters, on ‘predicting future war’, Rob Johnson analysed how we reach deductions about future operating environments.
He is currently working on a monograph on the history of partnering irregular indigenous forces, and he has just completed a strategic study of the First World War in the Middle East. In order to encourage the introduction of new thinking into British government policy on defence and security, he convenes the UK strategy forum for the the Chief of the Defence Staff.
Research Interests
Recent Work
Mongraphs
The Great War in the Middle East: A Strategic Study (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016)
At the End of Military Intervention: Historical, Theoretical and Applied Approaches to Transition, Handover and Withdrawal, Rob Johnson and Timothy Clack, (eds), (Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2014)
‘Upstream Engagement and Downstream Entanglement: the Assumptions, Opportunities and Threats of Partnering Indigenous Forces’, Small Wars and Insurgencies (Special Edition) 25, 3 (2014).
‘Predicting Future War’, Parameters 44, I (2014): 65-76.
‘Modernity and War’ in Alexander Linklater (ed), War (forthcoming, Stockholm: Ax:Johnson, 2016) published as ‘Det omoderna kriget’ in Axess (September 2015): 41-44
‘Naval Power and Political Relevance: Grand Strategy in the Twenty-First Century’, JRUSI 2015
‘Assessing Future Conflict from the Wars of the Past’, paper given at the Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, 8 July 2015 and chapter for forthcoming publication.
‘ ‘‘Boots on the Ground’’: Historical Perspectives and Conceptual Challenges’, paper given at Sciences Po, Paris, 26 June 2015 and article for forthcoming publication with CERI.
‘Command of the Army, Charles Gwynn and Imperial Policing: The British Doctrinal Approach to Internal Security in Palestine 1919–29’, The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 43, 4, (September 2015): 570-589
True to Their Salt: Auxiliaries and Security Force Assistance (Hurst, forthcoming 2016)
Published Works
The Afghan Way of War (London and New York: Hurst-OUP, 2011)
The Iran-Iraq War (New York and Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2010)
Pulverfass Im Hindukusch: Dschihad, Erdol und die Grossmachte in Zentralasien (Theiss, 2008)
Oil, Islam and Conflict in Central Asia since 1945 (London: Reaktion, 2007)
Spying for Empire: The Great Game in Central and South Asia 1757-1947 (London: Greenhill, 2006)
A Region in Turmoil: South Asian Conflicts Since1947 (London: Reaktion, 2005).
British Imperialism (New York and Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002) Launch volume of the Histories and Controversies Series.
Edited Works
Gallipoli: The Turkish Perspective, Rob Johnson and Metin Gurcan, (eds), (London: Ashgate, 2016)
The British Indian Army: Virtue and Necessity, Rob Johnson, (ed.), (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2014)
At the End of Military Intervention: Historical, Theoretical and Applied Approaches to Transition, Handover and Withdrawal, Robert Johnson and Timothy Clack, (eds), (Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2014) including 2 chapters ‘Introduction’ and ‘India and Pakistan, 1947-48’.
Upstream Effects: Stabilisation and Counter-Terrorism in Global Conflicts, David Anderson, Robert Johnson and Timothy Clack, (eds), including ‘Assessing the Upstream Strategic Environment’, publication to be confirmed, (forthcoming, 2017).
History at the End of the World: History, Climate Change and the Possibility of Closure, Mark Levene, Rob Johnson, Penny Roberts (eds), (Penrith: HEB, 2010) including chapter ‘Climate Change, Resources and Future War: The Case of Central Asia’.
Chapters and Journal Articles
Insurgency and Internal Security
‘Out of Arabia: The Fate of Omani Local Forces Allied with the British, 1967-76’, International History Review, Special Edition, (2015)
‘Countering Insurgency in the Second Anglo–Afghan War, 1878-1880’, in Bruce Collins and Marie-Cecile Thoral (eds), Colonial Counterinsurgency: Theory and Practice in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century (Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave, 2014)
‘The Afghan National Army and COIN: Past, Present and Future Reconsidered’ in Scott Gates and Kaushik Roy (eds.), War and State-Building in Afghanistan: Historical and Modern Perspectives (London and New York: Bloomsbury, 2014)
‘War Amongst the People’ and ‘The Consequences of a Failed State’ in Afghanistan Revealed (London: Afghan Appeal Fund, and Frontline, 2013)
‘General Roberts, the Occupation of Kabul and the Problems of Transition, 1879-1880’, in War in History 20:3 (July 2013)
‘Managing Helmand: From Bost to Bastion’, in International Area Studies Review 15, 3 (2012): 279-300.
‘Mizh der beitabora khalqi-i’: A Comparative Study of Afghan-Pashtun Perspectives on Negotiating with the British and the Soviets, 1839-1989’, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, Special Edition, 39, 4 (November 2011): 551-70.
‘The Army in India and Responses to Low-Intensity Conflict, 1936-46’, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, 89, 358 (2011), 159-81
‘The Indian Army and Internal Security, 1919-1946’ in Kaushik Roy (ed.), The Indian Army in the Two World Wars (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2011)
‘Small Wars and Internal Security: The Army in India, 1936-46’, in Alan Jefferies and Patrick Rose, (eds), The Indian Army, 1939-1947: Experience and Development (London: Ashgate, 2012)
Lessons in Imperial Rule: Instructions for Infantrymen on the Indian Frontier (London: Greenhill, 2008)
‘The 1897 Revolt and Tirah Valley Operations from the Pashtun Perspective’ (Williamsburg, VA., November 2009)
‘Introduction’ to C.E. Callwell, The Tirah Campaign (London: 1911; repubd. Williamsburg, VA, 2009)
‘‘‘True to Their Salt’’: Mechanisms for recruiting and managing military labour in the Army of the East India Company during the Carnatic Wars in India’, International Institute for Social History, Amsterdam, 2011 published in Labour and the Military (Leiden, 2014)
‘Conception et conduite de la contra-insurrection en Afghanistan’, in Strategies Arabo-Mussalmanes et Irrgularite : Cultures et Discourses de Guerre, Strategique 103 (2013) Proceedings of the Centre de Recherche des Ecoles de Saint-Cyr Coetquidan, Ecoles Militaires, Paris : 193-218
Justifications of Revolutionary War and Intervention
‘Upstream Engagement and Downstream Entanglement: the Assumptions, Opportunities and Threats of Partnering Indigenous Forces’, Small Wars and Insurgencies (Special Edition) Volume 25, Issue 3 (2014).
‘Heroism and Self-Sacrifice for the Nation: Wars of National Liberation’ in Sybille Scheipers, (ed.), Heroism and the Changing Character of War: Towards Post-Heroic Warfare (New York and Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).
‘The Romanticism of the Revolutionary: Warriors of National Liberation’, in R. Hanks, (ed), Roots of Violence (Stockholm: Ax:Johnson, 2013)
‘Jihad and the ‘‘War on Terror’’: Intelligence, Ethics, and Justice in Pakistan and Afghanistan’, in Mark Phythian and Anika Bergman, Intelligence Ethics and the War on Terror (Routledge, 2011)
‘Mutazafin and Taghutti [The Oppressed and Tyrants]: Iran and its International Relations’ in the Iran-Iraq War’, in Nigel Ashton, Ranj Alaaldin and Bryan Gibson, (eds.), The Iran-Iraq War: New International Perspectives (London and New York: Routledge, 2012)
‘Justifying the Iraq War and Managing the Media’, in David Welch and Jo Fox, (eds.), Justifying War (Routledge, 2012)
Proxy Warfare and Sponsorship of Insurgency
‘Pakistan’s ISI and Covert Operations in Afghanistan’, in K.C Gustafson and P. Davies, (eds), Intelligence Elsewhere (Georgetown University Press, 2013)
‘ ‘‘Uncertain Loyalties’’: Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence and its Relationship with Western Intelligence Agencies’, in P. Major & C.R. Moran, (eds.),Spooked:Britain, Empire and Intelligence since 1945 (CSP: Cambridge, 2009)
‘In the Service of Empire: Imperialism and the British Spy Thriller’, with C.R. Moran, in Studies in Intelligence, 54, 2, (June, 2010)
Strategies of Security
‘‘‘I Shall Die Arms in Hand, Wearing the Warriors’ Clothes’’: Mobilisation and Initial Operations of the Indian Army in France and Flanders, 1914-1915’, British Journal of Military History, II, 3, (2016): 1-16.
‘Command of the Army, Charles Gwynn and Imperial Policing: The British Doctrinal Approach to Internal Security in Palestine 1919-29’, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, Special Edition, 43, 4 (2015).
‘Killing in Close Combat: Contexts and Concepts on Cohesion and Killing from the First World War to the Present’, chapter in edited volume, Anthony King, Combat and Cohesion, (OUP, 2015).
‘War and Civilization: The Paradox of the Nature of War and Civilization’s Need for War’, chapter in Alexander Lindlater (ed), Civilization (Stockholm: Ax:son Johnson, 2014).
‘Naval Power and Political Relevance: Grand Strategy in the Twenty-First Century’, Journal of the Royal United Services Institution (2015)
‘Predicting Future War’, Parameters (Spring 2014): 65-76.
‘The Indian Army and the Mesopotamia Campaign, 1914-1918’ in Peter Liddle, (ed), The Widening War (London: Pen and Sword, 2015)
‘The Mesopotamia Campaign, 1914-1918’ in Peter Wilson, (ed), British Army Campaign Guide to the Forgotten Fronts of The First World War (London, 2015)
‘The Iraq Revolt, 1920’ in Peter Wilson, (ed), British Army Campaign Guide to the Forgotten Fronts of The First World War (London, 2015)
The British Indian Army: Virtue and Necessity, Rob Johnson, (ed), (Cambridge: CSP, 2014) including 3 chapters: ‘Introduction’, ‘Making a Virtue Out of Necessity, 1746-1947’ and ‘The Indian Army on Expeditionary Operations, 1856-1914: China, Persia, and East Africa’.
‘The East India Company, the Indian Army and the China Wars, 1839-1860’ in Peter Lorge and Kaushik Roy (eds), India and China (London and New York: Routledge, 2012)
‘The Penjdeh Incident, 1885’ Archives 24, 100, (1999): 28-48.
‘ ‘‘Russians at the Gates of India’’’: Planning the Strategic Defence of India, 1884-1899’ Journal of Military History (USA: Virginia Military Institute), 67, (July 2003): 697-743.
‘Introduction’ to Major General Charles Metcalfe MacGregor, The Second Afghan War: The Official History (London: Frontline, due 2016)
‘The Great Game and Power Projection, 1856-1914’, in Jeff Macris and Saul Kelly, (eds), Imperial Crossroads: The Great Powers and the Gulf (Routledge, 2012) voted ‘Outstanding Academic Title’ by Choice, 2014.
‘Sir Peter Stark Lumsden’, entry for the Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: OUP, 2009)
‘A Plain Tale of Pundits, Players and Professionals: The Historiography of the Great Game’ in Chris Moran and Christopher Murphy (eds), Intelligence Studies in Britain and the United States: Historiography since 1945 (Edinburgh University Press, 2013)
Other History of War
Utmutato a Gyozelemhez (London: Athenaeum, 2011)
Hur Man Vinner pa Slagfaltet (Stockholm: Fischer, 2011)
How to Win on the Battlefield (London: Thames and Hudson, 2010) edited with Michael Whitby and John France
‘Boys at War: The Ubiquity of Child Soldiers’, lectures at All Souls and Magdalen published for the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust http://www.sofo.org.uk/dyn/files/boysatwarlecture.pdf
Regular Lectures for Defence Establishments
‘Planning for Future War’, NATO Defence College, Rome
‘Command in War’, Joint Services Command and Staff College
‘Partnering Indigenous Forces’, Higher Command and Staff College
‘Intervention and Peacekeeping: Palestine, 1920-48’, Royal College of Defence Studies
‘Palestine: A Strategic Study’, Royal College of Defence Studies
‘Vietnam: A Strategic Study’, Royal College of Defence Studies
Forthcoming Publications not already listed
War, Strategy and Civil-Military Relations: Essays in Honour of Professor Sir Hew Strachan (2017)
Countering Insurgency before 1945, Rob Johnson (ed.) (Brill, due 2017-18).
Articles and Chapters
‘The Taliban’ in Beatrice Heuser (ed), National Styles in Insurgencies (Oxford, due 2014)
‘Transformation of War: The Collision of States and Sub-State Polities’, publication to be confirmed (USA: CUNY/Florida).
‘Counter-Revolution or People’s War? The Mujahideen Insurgency’, publication to be confirmed (Helmut-Schmidt Univeristaet)
Journal: The New Strategist Journal
In 2015, the CCW programme launches the New Strategist Journal (NSJ) under the editorial direction of Dr Johnson. NSJ is designed to attract fresh thinking on the question of strategic thought, planning and decision-making.
Civil wars Conflict management Ethics of war Foreign Policy and diplomacy History International security Religion Revolution Violence security and conflict
Teaching
In the past I have supervised postgraduate theses on the history of war and strategy. I now supervise work on strategic studies and decision-making, using historical and contemporary case studies.
Number of DPhil supervisions completed: 3
Media
World at War, ten part series, ITN Productions (September 2015)
Various interviews with BBC, Al Jazeera, Channel 4, ITN, and national news outlets in Afghanistan
Rob Johnson
Dr Rob Johnson (robert.johnson@history.ox.ac.uk) is the Director of the Oxford Changing Character of War Centre, Senior Research Fellow of Pembroke College, and Associate of the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford.
As Director, Dr Johnson sets and manages the research agenda, is responsible for the management of staff, and offers supervision to Visiting Research Fellows, Post-Doctoral Researchers, and postgraduate students. He also advises and delivers direct support to government and armed forces in defence and security matters, transferring his knowledge in related academic and research fields. His bespoke advisory support is not limited to the United Kingdom, but is requested by US and European armed forces. The Director is now prominent within professional military education, as a member of the advisory panel of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, lecturer for the Royal College of Defence Studies, and as the director of ‘insight and understanding’ study days and workshops. His former military career involved innovations in counter-terrorism, but also gives him a clear understanding of the requirements and thinking of the armed services. He is a visiting lecturer in the United States, Canada, Germany, Austria, Turkey and France.
Dr Johnson has delivered courses in Strategic Studies (Politics and IR) and the History of War (History), an unusual interdisciplinary combination for academics. He offers postgraduate supervision on theses concerned with strategy, as well as undergraduate tutorials for a number of colleges, tuition on foreign exchange programmes, lectures in the undergraduate International Relations and General History circus and an unexamined lecture series on the history of war and strategy. He delivers teaching to overseas academic programmes, including those of Stanford, Harvard and Yale.
Dr Rob Johnson’s primary research interests are in strategy, its development, and the history of war which informs it. His regional interest is in the Middle East, but there is a requirement to be familiar with a number of global conflict and security issues. In light of recent strategic challenges, his research has necessarily addressed ‘War Amongst the People’, that is, terrorism, insurgency and counter-insurgency. He has also examined how conflicts can be terminated, through transition and negotiation. Dr Johnson is concerned with the issue of civil-military relations in the making of strategy, and has examined the problems of maintaining internal security, the dynamics of insurrection, and the role of auxiliary forces in a number of other publications. He has published on strategic advantages and risks of partnering irregular indigenous forces, and a strategic study of the First World War in the Middle East. He has delivered papers on ‘cohesion in combat’, ‘joint operations’, ‘future operating environment’ and ‘strategy-making in the twenty-first century’. He convenes the UK Strategy Forum and is assisting the British armed forces in planning for reconfigured structures and missions and is focused on the difficulties of ‘planning future war’ using historical examples. He is actively involved in developing the British Army’s new ‘Integrated’ doctrine. He also runs strategic exercises, including scenario-based learning processes grounded in history and recent conflicts, at the Royal College of Defence Studies.
Dr Rob Johnson
Senior Research Fellow, Changing Character of War
Subjects: HistoryHistory & EconomicsHistory & EnglishHistory & Modern LanguagesPolitics
Email: robert.johnson@pmb.ox.ac.uk
Dr Johnson’s specialisms are in War; Strategy and Strategic Thinking; Military Operations; and Armed Conflict in the Middle East
I work on the History of War in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with particular interest in the First World War and the Inter-War Years. This research informs studies of recent conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and the Middle East. Thematically, I focus on strategy, conventional operations, tactical developments, revolutionary warfare, intelligence and counter-insurgency.
Research
Robert Johnson works in the following fields:
•Military and International Diplomatic History; International Relations; Politics
I am the Director of the Oxford Changing Character of War Programme which is an interdisciplinary study of war and armed conflict. In 2016-20, the research priorities of the programme are the changing relationship between war and the state, war in a connected world, the laws and the moral dimensions of war. There is a particular interest in armed conflict in urban environments, civilians in war, and violent non-state actors. The CCW programme hosts a number of Visiting Research Fellows. The CCW programme has been particularly successful in developing the dialogue between scholars, the armed services, governments and multinational organisations, and engaging in joint research projects, conferences and seminars.
Publications
•The Great War and the Middle East (Oxford University Press, 2016)
•The Afghan Way of War (London and New York: Hurst-OUP, 2011)
•The Iran-Iraq War (New York and Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2010)
•Pulverfass Im Hindukusch: Dschihad, Erdol und die Grossmachte in Zentralasien (Theiss, 2008)
•Oil, Islam and Conflict in Central Asia since 1945 (London: Reaktion, 2007)
•Spying for Empire: The Great Game in Central and South Asia 1757-1947 (London: Greenhill, 2006)
•A Region in Turmoil: South Asian Conflicts Since1947 (London: Reaktion, 2005).
•British Imperialism (New York and Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002)
•True to Their Salt: Indigenous and Auxiliary Forces in Foreign Service (London and New York: Hurst-OUP, 2017)
Edited Volumes
•At the End of Military Intervention: Historical, Theoretical and Applied Solutions to Stabilization and Drawdown, Rob Johnson and Timothy Clack, (eds), (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014) including chapters ‘Introduction’ and ‘India and Pakistan, 1947-48’.
•The British Indian Army: Virtue and Necessity, Rob Johnson, (ed), (Cambridge: CSP, 2014) including 3 chapters: ‘Introduction’, ‘Making a Virtue Out of Necessity, 1746-1947’ and ‘The Indian Army on Expeditionary Operations, 1856-1914: China, Persia, and East Africa’.
•The Gallipoli Campaign: The Turkish Perspective, Rob Johnson and Metin Gurcan, (eds), (Routledge, 2016) including ‘Introduction’ and ‘A Contested Historiography’
Official Publications (Consultancy)
•NATO Study: Urban Warfighting: Strategy and Operations, 2015
•NATO Study: Urban Warfighting: The Human Dimension, 2016
•NATO COE-DAT Study: Future Terrorism and Insurgency 2015
•The Future Operating Environment
•Global Strategic Trends
•Army Doctrine Publication Operations
•Army Doctrine Publication Counter-Insurgency
Chapters and Journal Articles
Insurgency and Internal Security
•‘Command of the Army, Charles Gwynn and Imperial Policing: The British Doctrinal Approach to Internal Security in Palestine 1919-29’, article for Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, Special Edition, 2014
•‘War Amongst the People’ and ‘The Consequences of a failed State’ in Afghanistan Revealed (London: Afghan Appeal Fund, and Frontline, 2013)
•‘General Roberts, the Occupation of Kabul and the Problems of Transition, 1879-1880’, in War in History 20:3 (July 2013)
•‘Managing Helmand: From Bost to Bastion’, in International Area Studies Review 15, 3 (2012): 279-300.
•‘Mizh der beitabora khalqi-i’: A Comparative Study of Afghan-Pashtun Perspectives on Negotiating with the British and the Soviets, 1839-1989’, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, Special Edition, 39, 4 (November 2011): 551-70.
•‘The Army in India and Responses to Low-Intensity Conflict, 1936-46’, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, 89, 358 (2011), 159-81
•‘The Indian Army and Internal Security, 1919-1946’ in Kaushik Roy (ed.), The Indian Army in the Two World Wars (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2011)
•‘Small Wars and Internal Security: The Army in India, 1936-46’, in Alan Jefferies and Patrick Rose, (eds), The Indian Army, 1939-1947: Experience and Development (London: Ashgate, 2012)
•‘Wars of National Liberation’ in Sibylle Scheipers (ed), Heroism and the Changing Character of War: Toward Post-Heroic Warfare? (Palgrave, 2014)
•Lessons in Imperial Rule: Instructions for Infantrymen on the Indian Frontier (London: Greenhill, 2008)
•‘The 1897 Revolt and Tirah Valley Operations from the Pashtun Perspective’ (Williamsburg, VA., November 2009)
•‘Introduction’ to C.E. Callwell, The Tirah Campaign (London: 1911; repubd. Williamsburg, VA, 2009)
•‘‘‘True to Their Salt’’: Mechanisms for recruiting and managing military labour in the Army of the East India Company during the Carnatic Wars in India’, International Institute for Social History, Amsterdam, 2011 due to be published in Labour and the Military (Leiden, due June 2013)
•‘Conception et conduite de la contra-insurrection en Afghanistan’, in Strategies Arabo-Mussalmanes et Irrgularite : Cultures et Discourses de Guerre, Strategique 103 (2013) Proceedings of the Centre de Recherche des Ecoles de Saint-Cyr Coetquidan, Ecoles Militaires, Paris : 193-218
Justifications of Violence, War and Intervention
•‘Upstream Engagement and Downstream Entanglement: the Assumptions, Opportunities and Threats of Partnering Indigenous Forces’, Small Wars and Insurgencies (Special Edition).
•‘Transformation of War: The Collision of States and Sub-State Polities’, in Transformations of War, John Torpey and David Jacobson, (eds), (Temple, 2016).
• ‘War and Civilization: The Paradox of the Nature of War and Civilization’s Need for War’, chapter in an edited volume, Alex Linklater, (ed), War and Civilization, (Engelsberg, 2016).
•‘Killing in Close Combat: Contexts and Concepts on Cohesion and Killing from the First Word War to the Present’, chapter in edited volume, Anthony King, (ed), Combat and Cohesion, (OUP, 2014).
•‘The Romanticism of the Revolutionary: Warriors of National Liberation’, in R. Hanks, (ed), Roots of Violence (Stockholm: Ax:Johnson, 2013)
•‘Jihad and the ‘‘War on Terror’’: Intelligence, Ethics, and Justice in Pakistan and Afghanistan’, in Mark Phythian and Anika Bergman, Intelligence Ethics and the War on Terror (Routledge, 2011)
•‘Mutazafin and Taghutti [The Oppressed and Tyrants]: Iran and its International Relations’ in the Iran-Iraq War’, in Nigel Ashton, Ranj Alaaldin and Bryan Gibson, (eds.), The Iran-Iraq War: New International Perspectives (London and New York: Routledge, 2012)
•‘Justifying the Iraq War and Managing the Media’, in David Welch and Jo Fox, (eds.), Justifying War (Routledge, 2012)
Sponsorship of Insurgency
•‘Pakistan’s ISI and Covert Operations in Afghanistan’, in K.C Gustafson and P. Davies, (eds), Intelligence Elsewhere (Georgetown University Press, 2013)
•‘ ‘‘Uncertain Loyalties’’: Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence and its Relationship with Western Intelligence Agencies’, in P.Major & C.R.Moran, (eds.), Spooked: Britain, Empire and Intelligence since 1945 (CSP: Cambridge, 2009)
•‘In the Service of Empire: Imperialism and the British Spy Thriller’, with C.R. Moran, in Studies in Intelligence, 54, 2, (June, 2010)
Strategies of Security
•‘The East India Company, the Indian Army and the China Wars, 1839-1860’ in Peter Lorge and Kaushik Roy (eds), India and China (London and New York: Routledge, 2012)
•‘The Penjdeh Incident, 1885’ Archives 24, 100, (1999): 28-48.
•‘ ‘‘Russians at the Gates of India’’’: Planning the Strategic Defence of India, 1884-1899’ Journal of Military History (USA: Virginia Military Institute), 67, (July 2003): 697-743.
•‘Introduction’ to Major General Charles Metcalfe MacGregor, The Second Afghan War: The Official History (London: Frontline, due 2013)
•‘The Great Game and Power Projection, 1856-1914’, in Jeff Macris and Saul Kelly, (eds), Imperial Crossroads: The Great Powers and the Gulf (Routledge, 2012)
•‘Sir Peter Stark Lumsden’, entry for the Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: OUP, 2009)
•‘A Plain Tale of Pundits, Players and Professionals: The Historiography of the Great Game’ in Chris Moran and Christopher Murphy (eds), Intelligence Studies in Britain and the United States: Historiography since 1945 (Edinburgh University Press, 2013)
•History at the End of the World: History, Climate Change and the Possibility of Closure, Mark Levene, Rob Johnson, Penny Roberts (eds), (Penrith: HEB, 2010) including chapter ‘Climate Change, Resources and Future War: The Case of Central Asia’.
Other History of War
•Utmutato a Gyozelemhez (London: Athenaeum, 2011)
•Hur Man Vinner pa Slagfaltet (Stockholm: Fischer, 2011)
•How to Win on the Battlefield (London: Thames and Hudson, 2010) edited with Michael Whitby and John France
•‘Boys at War: The Ubiquity of Child Soldiers’, lectures at All Souls and Magdalen published for the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust.
QUOTE:
The broad view and strategic focus of Johnson's extensively researched study make it a
valuable addition to the history of WWI,
The Great War and the Middle East
Publishers Weekly.
263.43 (Oct. 24, 2016): p71.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Great War and the Middle East
Rob Johnson. Oxford Univ., $34.95 (400p) ISBN 978-0-19-968328-4
Johnson, director of the Changing Character of War research program at Oxford University, examines the strategies of
the WWI belligerents in the Middle East (and Southwest Asia), how well they were executed, and their post-war
legacies. Using the classic "ends-ways-means" framework, Johnson describes each nation's military and political
strategy and then evaluates them all in terms of achievements and failures. His thesis is that a wide variety of
competing issues drove a series of pragmatic choices that ultimately led the defeat of the Ottoman Turks. Strategies
were rarely well-conceived or well-executed. The book ties all of the major operations in the theater together into a
coherent, chronological narrative that includes the famous amphibious campaign in Gallipoli, the Arab Revolt, the oftoverlooked
British campaigns to conquer Mesopotamia, and military and political maneuvers in Persia and
Afghanistan. This broad history focuses primarily on military and political strategy, and battles are described only as
they relate to strategic effects. The broad view and strategic focus of Johnson's extensively researched study make it a
valuable addition to the history of WWI, though it will appeal primarily to those already familiar with the material at
hand. (Dec.)
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"The Great War and the Middle East." Publishers Weekly, 24 Oct. 2016, p. 71+. General OneFile,
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p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA468771860&it=r&asid=d56b51a51114a893b62307a240ed99a2.
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QUOTE:
readers
interested in exciting stories of bravery and tales featuring plucky common soldiers will discover a pleasant diversion.
Outnumbered, Outgunned, Undeterred: Twenty
Battles Against All Odds
Jeanne T. Heidler
The Historian.
74.4 (Winter 2012): p907.
COPYRIGHT 2012 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc.
Full Text:
Outnumbered, Outgunned, Undeterred: Twenty Battles Against All Odds. By Rob Johnson. (London, England: Thames
& Hudson, 2011. Pp. 208. $27.95.)
In this brief volume, the author examines those occasions when soldiers have faced formidable enemies and
overwhelming odds, sometimes to triumph, sometimes to perish, but in all events behaving in ways that inspired. Even
obliteration, if managed with elan, could boost morale by example and pave the path to final victory. Rob Johnson
surveys a broad landscape and wide calendar for his examples and concludes that no single characteristic supplies a
universal explanation for why certain men at a certain place would stare at death and stand their ground.
Physical courage always played a part, of course, especially individual bravery and a compelling sense of honor. The
self-perception of elite military status--think of Bonaparte's Old Guard or the American Civil War's Iron Brigade--was
also important, but there was always more to it than uplifted chins and stiff upper lips. Martial aptitude, discipline,
resolve, endurance, leadership, a just cause, and sometimes simple obduracy were important factors as well. The luck of
one's position could be crucial, as with defenders usually having a tactical advantage, but a sense of inevitability could
make offensive maneuvers invincible against even the most daunting odds. The Union charge at Chattanooga comes to
mind, though merely as an example, for inevitability completely failed George Pickett at Gettysburg and the Light
Brigade in the Crimea.
Johnson does not use any of these examples, however. Rather, the best parts of his book are the descriptions of the
events in the early twenty-first century. In these, Johnson demonstrates a flair for explaining the plight of modern
armies fighting insurgents and the difficulties of sustaining coalitions in protracted conflicts. He makes evident the fog
and friction of the United States' early days in Iraq in 2003 and the enormous challenges faced by American and British
troops fighting the Taliban in 2006-2008. Yet beyond that, the most peculiar features of the book are the examples he
uses to probe his thesis. George Washington's victory at Yorktown is not the story of an American army fighting against
insurmountable odds, except in tying the incident back to four years earlier and the army's deprivation at Valley Forge.
Lord Cornwallis was the outnumbered and outgunned party at Yorktown, and he was sufficiently deterred by his
prospects to surrender as soon as conscience allowed. Washington at Monmouth Courthouse is a better fit for Johnson's
theme. Similarly, Ambrose Burnside's hapless assault on the bridge at Antietam was not a matter of uneven odds but
resulted from a faulty sense of the terrain. The aforementioned Pickett or Ulysses S. Grant's half-hour bloodbath at Cold
Harbor are more apropos.
In fact, scores of examples seem more appropriate to study in light of the ideas posed in Johnson's introduction:
Baltimore in 1814, Andrew Jackson at New Orleans, the Alamo, General Gordon at Khartoum, the defense of Rorke's
Drift, and the Bulge all seem highly appropriate and potentially illuminative. Instead, Johnson's brief chapters make for
a thin narrative of well-known events and relatively obscure stories alike, such as the predicament of the French at
Camerone or the clash at Kohima during World War II.
As a consequence, scholars of Western military history will find little new in this volume, and the uninitiated will either
be at sea or left unaware of many of the most often considered cases that fit Johnson's subject. At most, readers
interested in exciting stories of bravery and tales featuring plucky common soldiers will discover a pleasant diversion.
Jeanne T. Heidler
United States Air Force Academy
Heidler, Jeanne T.
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Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Heidler, Jeanne T. "Outnumbered, Outgunned, Undeterred: Twenty Battles Against All Odds." The Historian, vol. 74,
no. 4, 2012, p. 907+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA314347469&it=r&asid=7ab9d8def178927a2f3dccb0cde0c173.
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Outnumbered, outgunned, undeterred; twenty
battles against all odds
Reference & Research Book News.
26.6 (Dec. 2011):
COPYRIGHT 2011 Ringgold, Inc.
http://www.ringgold.com/
Full Text:
9780500251874
Outnumbered, outgunned, undeterred; twenty battles against all odds.
Johnson, Rob.
Thames & Hudson
2011
208 pages
$27.95
Hardcover
U39
From George Washington and the American Patriots at Yorktown to the Battle of Wanat in Afghanistan 2006-08, this
book describes 20 epic battles where weaker forces fought against great odds and often prevailed. Each chapter (about
8-10 pages) opens with a b&w historical photo or illustration and includes a two-color map of the battle area. Some of
the conflicts detailed include Napoleon in France, Simon Bolivar in South America, the British Amy in India, the
defense of Stalingrad in 1943, the defense of the Golan Heights in 1973, and the battle of Debecka, Iraq, in 2003.
Johnson teaches history of war at Oxford University.
([c]2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR)
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Outnumbered, outgunned, undeterred; twenty battles against all odds." Reference & Research Book News, Dec. 2011.
General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
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QUOTE:
Although Johnson claims that the time is ripe for a reappraisal of the conflict illuminated by over two decades of
hindsight, the book relies too heavily on aging secondary sources and not enough on newly available primary ones.
The Iran-Iraq War (Twentieth-Century Wars)
Micah Levinson
Middle East Quarterly.
18.4 (Fall 2011): p93.
COPYRIGHT 2011 Middle East Forum
http://www.meforum.org/meq/
Full Text:
The Iran-Iraq War (Twentieth-Century Wars). By Rob Johnson. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. 192 pp. $88 ($29, paper).
Perhaps the most vicious war of the late twentieth century, the 1980-88 conflict between Iran and Iraq deserves a fresh
appraisal. In The Iran-Iraq War, Johnson, a former U.S. army officer, intended to provide a politically neutral analysis
of the conflict that would explain how it shaped subsequent events in the Middle East. Such an undertaking is a worthy
goal as bias mars many works on the subject: Stephen C. Pelletiere's The Iran-Iraq War: Chaos in a Vacuum (1)
astonishingly questions whether Iraq used poison gas against the Kurds at Halabja while Farhang Rajaee's The Iran-Iraq
War: Politics of Aggression (2) downplays Khomeini's promotion of revolutionary activity in neighboring countries.
Further, since most of the voluminous literature on the Iran-Iraq war was written during or shortly after the conflict, few
books explain how the war influenced the region's history.
Unfortunately, Johnson's book leaves largely unfulfilled its promise to explain "how the war shaped the region and set
in motion the events that followed." Reminding readers that Saddam Hussein's motivations for invading Kuwait in 1990
included increasing Iraq's oil reserves to pay potentially mutinous returning soldiers and to revive an economy shattered
by war does not suffice.
While Johnson avoids repeating as fact the wartime propaganda of either belligerent, he promotes the discredited
"October Surprise" conspiracy theory. That story maintains that, to increase Carter's unpopularity and win the 1980
presidential election, Ronald Reagan secretly promised to supply the Iranians with weapons if they would prolong the
hostage crisis until after the vote. Investigations by The Village Voice, Newsweek, and The New Republic, as well as
two congressional inquiries, exposed the allegation as a fraud. (3)
Although Johnson claims that the time is ripe for a reappraisal of the conflict illuminated by over two decades of
hindsight, the book relies too heavily on aging secondary sources and not enough on newly available primary ones. The
2003 invasion of Iraq provided access to much archival material relevant to the Iran-Iraq war, including 2.4 million
pages recovered by the Iraq Memory Foundation documenting the Anfal campaign against Kurdish insurgents at the
end of the war. Hopefully, authors of future books on the Iran-Iraq war will avail themselves of these resources.
Despite these shortcomings, Johnson does masterfully describe the military operations without getting bogged down in
technical information. This book, along with Efraim Karsh's The Iran-Iraq War, (4) is a good primer on the brutal 8-
year conflict. For a more technical account, consult Anthony H. Cordesman and Abraham R. Wagner's The Lessons of
Modern War, Vol. II: The Iran-Iraq War. (5)
Micah Levinson
American Foreign Policy Council
(1) Praeger Publishers, 1992.
(2) University Press of Florida, 1993.
(3) Daniel Pipes, "Remember Ronald Reagan's October Surprise? It Never Happened," History News Network, Mar.
29, 2004.
(4) Osprey Publishing, 2002.
(5) Westview Press, 1990.
Levinson, Micah
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Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
QUOTE:
it is useful to revisit the war that in many ways set these later developments
Levinson, Micah. "The Iran-Iraq War (Twentieth-Century Wars)." Middle East Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 4, 2011, p. 93+.
General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
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Johnson, Rob. The Iran-Iraq War
M. Gershovich
CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries.
48.12 (Aug. 2011): p2381.
COPYRIGHT 2011 American Library Association CHOICE
http://www.ala.org/acrl/choice/about
Full Text:
48-7093
DS318
MARC
Johnson, Rob. The Iran-Iraq War. Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. 214p bibl index ISBN 9780230577732, $80.00; ISBN
9780230577749 pbk, $29.00
As one of the longest, deadliest, and costliest conflicts in recent history, it is quite appropriate to include the Iran-Iraq
War in a series devoted to the wars of the last century. Lasting for nearly the entire 1980s, this war is estimated to have
cost the lives of nearly 1 million people and $1,190 billion. Characterized by long periods of stalemate with shorter
phases of intensity and considerable destruction on both sides' infrastructure, purposeful targeting of noncombatants,
and use of chemical warfare, the war had significant regional and international ramifications. The Iraqi invasion of
Kuwait shortly after the war's inconclusive ending led to another, much shorter international conflict in 1991, and 12
years later, to the invasion and occupation of Iraq itself. Given the continual involvement of the US and its allies in the
Persian Gulf and the broader Middle East, it is useful to revisit the war that in many ways set these later developments
in motion. Summing Up: Recommended. ** Upper-division undergraduates and above.--M. Gershovich, University of
Nebraska, Omaha
Gershovich, M.
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Gershovich, M. "Johnson, Rob. The Iran-Iraq War." CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, Aug. 2011, p.
2381. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA263439520&it=r&asid=cc97b8ecfe427c74855b0495811b905f.
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QUOTE:
s essential reading for policy planners and researchers, as well as those who seek to combat
terrorism and secure much-needed oil resources and accessibility to western markets. Useful aids include a map of the
central Asian region, a bibliography for each chapter with much emphasis on data derived from the Internet, and an
index.
Oil, Islam and Conflict: Central Asia since 1945
Caesar E. Farah
The Historian.
71.3 (Fall 2009): p588.
COPYRIGHT 2009 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc.
Full Text:
Oil, Islam and Conflict: Central Asia since 1945. By Rob Johnson. (London, England: Reaktion Books, 2007. Pp. viii,
240. $25.00.)
This study is a thorough and updated account of the trials and tribulations encompassing the newly liberated Central
Asian states. Indeed, it is replete with dates, names, and events that render it difficult for the reader to assimilate the
data in a comprehensive manner. Much of the author's sources derive from the electronic media, which contributes to
the book's currency. In ten chapters, the author seeks to define the course of events in terms of its regional issues and
contemporary history, the fate of these central republics before and after 1991, stressing largely the political-curereligious
proclivities thereof. He considers the role of Islam and the rise of Islamism; the Tajik Civil War and the
Renaissance Party; the Afghan Civil War; and the role of the Taliban in spreading its narrow conception of Islam. He
examines support for Islamists in neighboring states, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan-Turkestan and regional
insurgency, the Chechen and Caucasus wars and their impact on Russia in the bloody struggle for self-assertion
accompanied by terrorism on both sides. He even fires attention to China and the Xinjiang province whose Turkic
Uighur peoples resist the influx of Han settlers and their domination of its economy as they look to their western fellow
Islamist neighbors for support. The author analyzes a range of issues including terrorism, counterinsurgency, and
energy security. The last chapter is dedicated to the role of hydrocarbons and the great powers who seek access to this
plentiful resource through a variety of pipelines proposed to reach outlets on the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, as
well as across land, for the gas to be pumped to European markets.
In the chapter on trajectories, Rob Johnson attempts to make a comparison with the role of neighboring states like
Pakistan, Turkey, and the Arab states. The overall trend can be summarized by the observation that the inheritors of
leadership of these states following the demise of the Soviet Union tended to rule in a dictatorial manner, ignoring
human rights. This often elicited a response from Islamist groups that called for a Wahhabi version of Islam that was
abetted openly and subtlely by the Saudi government and the tendency--since Enver Pasha of the new Turkey--to
recreate a true Islamic caliphate that harkens back to the earliest model of the Prophet Muhammad and his immediate
successors. Not enough is said about the economic stagnation that followed independence. The author examines the
policies of Central Asian governments, including their attitudes to democratic reform, human rights, and economic
development and how they are related to civil violence.
Nevertheless this book is essential reading for policy planners and researchers, as well as those who seek to combat
terrorism and secure much-needed oil resources and accessibility to western markets. Useful aids include a map of the
central Asian region, a bibliography for each chapter with much emphasis on data derived from the Internet, and an
index.
Caesar E. Farah
University of Minnesota, Twin Cites
Farah, Caesar E.
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Farah, Caesar E. "Oil, Islam and Conflict: Central Asia since 1945." The Historian, vol. 71, no. 3, 2009, p. 588+.
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QUOTE:
provides an excellent introduction to the region,
important contribution to the study of the
region, especially given Rob Johnson's unique handling of a long list of parameters and his meticulous selectiveness.
Oil, Islam and Conflict: Central Asia since 1945
Hasan Ali Karasar
Insight Turkey.
10.3 (July 2008): p166.
COPYRIGHT 2008 SETA Foundation for Political, Economic, and Social Research
http://www.insightturkey.com/
Full Text:
Oil, Islam and Conflict: Central Asia since 1945
By Rob Johnson
London: Reaktion Books, 2007, 272 pp., ISBN 1861893396, 15.95 [pounds sterling] (paper).
Oil, Islam and Conflict: Central Asia since 1945 provides an excellent introduction to the region, especially for service
people arriving in Turkestan for the first time in their lives. The region that has been known as Turkestan since at least
the 6th century CE has seen both bright and dark ages in its long history, and Rob Johnson's volume gives it its due.
Host to the famous Gokturk Kaganate, the Seljuk Empire, the Mongol Empire, and the Empire of Temarlane, Turkestan
has always been one of the major political, cultural and social centers both of the Islamic world and the Asian
continent. The Russian Empire absorbed the region in 1865; from that time until the breakup of the Soviet Union in
1991, i.e. for 126 years, Turkestan was a colony first of the Russian and then the Soviet Empire. Although the Russian
conquest was achieved by means of the unquestionable technological superiority of the conquerors, the native response
was always resistance. Turkestani resistance started at the very moment that Russia's expedition regiments were seen at
the horizon, and continued until 1991 via different means. Throughout the 19th century, dozens if not hundreds of
uprisings of various scales typically resulted in the slaughter of the natives by the Tsarist armies. By the time of the
1917 revolution and the Civil War in Russia, rebellion had already become a tradition in Turkestan. With the coming of
the Russian revolution, Turkestanis saw an opportunity for freedom and independence. Yet after the short-lived
Khokand and Alash Orda Turkestan governments, many Turkestanis were forced to retreat to the mountains to carry out
guerilla warfare; this movement was called the Basmachi (i.e. bandit) movement by the Russians. Basmachis continued
their resistance until the 1930s, unable to stop the Red Terror in Turkestan which took the lives of tens of thousands of
Turkestani intellectuals. Then came WWII. The vaporization of millions of Turkestani young men, drafted to defend the
Soviet fronts against the Germans, left nothing at home but a tradition of opposition, which now took the form of
passive resistance. The post-war history of Soviet rule in Turkestan is full of scandals involving party officials,
corruption at all levels, and the linguistic and social isolation of the Russian colonists from the Turkestani natives. The
only difference between Turkestan's 1991 independence and its autonomous governments of 1918 was the fact that this
time there were five different "nations" instead of one single and united Turkestan.
As even this brief sketch suggests, the history of the region is complex and full of confusing accounts; understanding its
contemporary politics is an even more complicated task. Rob Johnson's volume takes up this challenge in ten chapters,
beginning with a survey of regional issues and their history through the 1990s. Johnson's general descriptions, and his
thoughtful elucidation of such concepts as clan loyalties in the region are more than praiseworthy. Johnson is concerned
primarily with the historical continuation of old clan and tribal loyalties within the context of the new "Great Game" (to
adopt the phrase from Lutz Kleveman's eponymous 2003 book on the region). Johnson provides a microscopic analysis
of each republic, including the major problems each now faces. In doing so, Johnson also points out the potential
economic wealth of the regional countries, sometimes slightly exaggerating the extent of their natural resources. The
chapter on the Chechen and Caucasus wars might seem irrelevant when the geographical scope of the book is
concerned. However, the author, well aware of the close interactions between the governments and the oppositions of
all post-Soviet countries, is justified in his inclusion of the Caucasus in his analysis. Indeed, it enables the reader to
think more comprehensively about the region at large.
Oil, Islam and Conflict also provides a comprehensive analysis of the current Islamic-religious movements in the
region, relying largely on the available English-language resources. Johnson's outlines of the Tajik civil war and the rise
of the Taliban in Afghanistan are based completely on the Ahmed Rashid camp of English-language authors. In spite of
this limitation, however, Johnson does a very good job of drawing a clear map while still managing to provide hundreds
of names of warlords, mujahedeen commanders, etc., without ever confusing the reader. His chapter on the Islamic
Movement of Uzbekistan is one of the best accounts ever written on this organization. However, even these strengths
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reflect Johnson's journalistic approach to the matter, and his volume could not be called a scholarly survey of the
material it addresses. Further, Johnson's journalistic method sometimes creates problems, leading him at times to repeat
certain allegations from some very marginal and untrustworthy sources. Although Johnson occasionally repeats himself
at other times as well, these more innocuous repetitions help the reader remember the details of the context.
It has become a new trend in most of the recent English-language books published on Turkestan to include a chapter on
Eastern Turkestan, and Johnson's book is no exception. Eastern Turkestan (or Xinjiang, to use the name given by the
Chinese colonial administration) is a focus of interest and concern for several important reasons, as explained by the
author. It is considered to be the soft belly of the People's Republic of China, with a Muslim/Uygur majority almost
always out of sync with the Beijing administration. There have been allegations by the PRC that there is a serious El
Qaeda-connected threat stemming from the region and directed towards China, due to the existence of Uygurs in
Islamic Movements all over the world. For this reason, the PRC's own "war against terror" is automatically directed
against the Uygur majority in Eastern Turkestan. Also, Eastern Turkestan represents the only mineral and energy-rich
region of China, neighboring "energy rich" Western Turkestan and former Soviet Central Asia. Rob Johnson
approaches the region through the lens of an Anglo-Saxon rational choice model; it therefore seems consistent to him
and most likely to his target readers to connect oil and gas wealth with historically-rooted clan and tribal loyalties, and
to link this conjunction in turn with the threat of global Jihad. This perspective probably explains why Johnson's ninth
chapter focuses on hydrocarbons and great powers. Here Johnson's analysis is based on the "energy security" concerns
of the great powers which led to the new Great Game in the region. In his conclusion, to his credit, Johnson draws the
attention of the reader to dozens of other problems, such as water supplies, trans-border crime gangs, human traffic
king, drugs, and so on.
In conclusion, a number of caveats are in order. Firstly, Johnson provides no conclusions at the end of each chapter. The
reader is thus left standing with the question of what all this means in reality. On the bright side, this decision of
Johnson's part turns the book into an easy-to-read novelistic account, in which you expect to solve the very complicated
detective fiction at the end. And this is in fact true. Secondly, although Johnson includes a good reference section and
has clearly read most of the best material, an overdependence on English-language sources threatens to impose the
construction of an artificial world onto the region, leading to a perspective warped by the lenses of a uniformly
educated, quite orientalist crowd of authors. Lastly, the reader has been left in darkness on the subject of whether or not
the author himself has been in the region extensively, and thus to what extent he draws his conclusions on any direct
observations. Despite these caveats, Oil, Islam and Conflic is nonetheless an important contribution to the study of the
region, especially given Rob Johnson's unique handling of a long list of parameters and his meticulous selectiveness.
Hasan Ali Karasar, Bilkent University
Karasar, Hasan Ali
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Karasar, Hasan Ali. "Oil, Islam and Conflict: Central Asia since 1945." Insight Turkey, vol. 10, no. 3, 2008, p. 166+.
General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA195267612&it=r&asid=9edc65c8c9229d0eebf147cc56bd1a0d.
Accessed 9 July 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A195267612
QUOTE:
Overall, Outnumbered, Outgunned, and Undeterred was an interesting book.
Casual readers, students, and military professionals should all find it useful. The
guide to further reading is especially valuable, as it is organized by chapter, making
this volume a good guide to further study. This reviewer looks forward to reading
more of Rob Johnson’s work.
Kalesnik, Frank. Journal of Military History. Jan2012, Vol. 76 Issue 1, p239-240. 2p.
Outnumbered, Outgunned, Undeterred: Twenty Battles against the Odds. By Rob
Johnson. London: Thames and Hudson, 2011. ISBN-978-0-500-25187-4. Illustrations.
Maps. Battle plans. Bibliography. Index. Pp. 208. $27.95.
“Why do some men and women, despite all the odds against them, decide to
continue to resist, to endure and take punishment?” (p. 6). Former British Army
officer Rob Johnson begins the preface to his book with this timeless question,
which he then explores in twenty chapters. Some cover entire wars, such as Simon
Bolivar’s wars of liberation in South America (1813-1825), the Greek War for
Independence (1821-1832), and Finland’s Winter War against the Soviet Union
(1939-1940). Others cover tactical engagements, such as the French Foreign
Legion’s stand at Camerone (1863), or the Devonshire Regiment’s defense of the
Bois des Buttes (1918). The first chapter covers the Franco-American victory at
Yorktown (1781), the last an action in Afghanistan (2008). The author concludes
his study with this observation: “Weapon types, the right manoeuvres and appropriate
logistics are all important, but they are inconsequential without the qualities
of leadership, determination and physical courage” (p. 198).
240 ★ THE JOURNAL OF
Book Reviews
Johnson is a Lecturer in the History of War at Oxford University and Deputy
Director of the Changing Character of War research program, and has written
several books on military topics (Oil, Islam, and Conflict; A Region in Turmoil:
South Asian Conflicts since 1947; and How to Win on the Battlefield). This reviewer
got the impression that this book originated in lecture material, since each chapter
provides a background to and narrative and discussion of the war, campaign,
or battle described. Every chapter can be read independently, and all are detailed
and accurate enough to give even a knowledgeable reader some valuable insights.
While some readers might find some of the author’s topical choices curious, the
diversity of subjects makes for interesting reading.
While the conclusion does cite examples from the preceding chapters to
illustrate the author’s points, a more comprehensive and detailed discussion of
their relevance would strengthen his arguments. Also, the mix of wars, campaigns,
and battles could have been refined to present a more coherent discussion. While
some military principles are applicable at all command levels, the strategic, operational,
and tactical realms all have unique characteristics deserving distinct treatment.
While both generals and noncommissioned officers can display courage and
endurance, there are vast differences in their job descriptions, and the author could
have done a better job of explaining that.
The book takes a global perspective, but is Eurocentric in the sense that one
of the protagonists is almost always “Western”: when the Americans or Africans
successfully challenge a colonial power, they are themselves European colonials
(Washington, Bolivar, and De Wet). While the Western forces described in the
book certainly displayed the leadership, determination, and physical courage
needed to beat the odds, some non-Western examples of these human qualities
would be of interest as well. Given the author’s expertise in non-Western military
subjects, this oversight is curious.
Overall, Outnumbered, Outgunned, and Undeterred was an interesting book.
Casual readers, students, and military professionals should all find it useful. The
guide to further reading is especially valuable, as it is organized by chapter, making
this volume a good guide to further study. This reviewer looks forward to reading
more of Rob Johnson’s work.
Frank Kalesnik Beavercreek, Ohio
Malczewski, Ben. Library Journal. 10/15/2011, Vol. 136 Issue 17, p95-95. 1/6p.
Johnson, Rob. Outnumbered, Outgunned, Undeterred: Twenty Battles Against All Odds. Thames & Hudson, dist. by Norton. Oct. 2011. 208p. illus. maps. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780500251874. $27.95. MILITARY HISTORY.
Johnson (lecturer in the history of war, Univ. of Oxford) contextualizes and strategically maps 20 battles and military struggles, including Simón Bolívar in South America, Christiaan de Wet and Boer Resistance, the epic struggle for Stalingrad, and the battle of Wanat, Afghanistan. Unfortunately, Johnson is fond of clichés such as resilient human spirit, personal sacrifice, heroic virtue, and cunning leadership. However, his skillful analysis of the battles and struggles, their contributing conditions, and the guts and spirit of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstance speak inspiration well enough without his purple prose. VERDICT Marginally recommended.
QUOTE:
Johnson rightly says that the Iran-Iraq War was a war of illusions.
Moreover, the author correctly shows that the land war was more important than the
sporadic conflict in the Persian Gulf.
Credit is due to Johnson for writing an information-rich
narrative of one of the greatest conflicts of the post-Second World War era.
Roy, Kaushik. War in History. Nov2012, Vol. 19 Issue 4, p533-535. 3p. DOI: 10.1177/0968344512454380k.
The Iran-Iraq War. By Rob Johnson. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
2011. xii + 214 pp. £25. ISBN 978 0 230 57774 9
Reviewed by: Kaushik Roy, Jadavpur University, India, and the Centre for the Study of Civil
War, Peace Research Institute, Norway
The Middle East owing to its oil reserves has always been one of the hot spots of modern
history. Any inter-state war in this region, because of its effect on the global oil market,
534 War in History 19(4)
is bound to bring the extra-regional big powers into the fray. The Iran-Iraq War (1980–8)
was a case of inter-state war at one level and at another level an indirect duel between the
two big powers of the Cold War era. And these two levels occasionally interacted with
each other. The regional ramifications of this decade-long conflict, the nature of politics
involved, and the diplomatic fallout are studied in the volume under review by the British
historian Rob Johnson.
The initial Iraqi offensive in late 1981 and early 1982 failed not only because of tactical
inadequacies of the Iraqi armour and air force but also because of Saddam Hussein’s
faulty strategic thinking. Saddam thought that once Iraq occupied parts of south-west
Iran, Tehran would be willing to come to the negotiating table. Instead, Tehran gave the
call for a long war and spurned Saddam’s offer of peace in 1982.
This attritional conventional war also involved unconventional warfare. For instance,
the Kurds demanded independence from the Sunni Iraqi Ba’athist Party. And the Kurdish
insurgency in northern Iraq tied up a large number of Iraqi military assets. Baghdad
could not forgo this region because three-fifths of its oil revenue came from northern
Iraq. In addition, Iran provided financial and military aid to the Kurdish guerrillas. Iran
wrongly assumed that the Iraqi Shias (who constituted 55% of the population) would
support Shia Iran. Iran sponsored the Jaish-i-Mahdi in southern Iraq. In the end, nationalism
proved to be more important for the Iraqi Shias.
Johnson rightly notes that the Iran-Iraq War was a broken-backed war with alternating
periods of stalemate and high-intensity confrontations. While the Iraqi armed forces had
a technological lead, the Iranians had the advantage of a greater demographic base and
to an extent revolutionary enthusiasm which motivated many young Iranians to fight and
die for the greater cause of Islam. Many Iranians regarded Ayatollah Khomeini as a
Mahdi (a messenger of God). Against the ‘human wave’ assaults by the Iranians, the
Iraqis depended on air power, armoured vehicles, and artillery strikes. Later, in an attempt
to break the ‘will to war’ of the Iranians, Saddam resorted to Frog-7 and Scud missile
strikes (some even with chemical weapons) against Iran’s cities. While the USA supplied
Iraq, China supplied Iran. And the USSR supplied both combatants as it suited Moscow.
In the end, mutual exhaustion of both belligerents and a strong stand taken by the USA
and its west European allies to protect the Persian Gulf region to ensure the west’s oil
supply brought the war to a close.
Johnson categorizes the Iran-Iraq War as a limited conflict which later escalated
into total war. ‘Total war’ is an ideal term. But let us see how far the indices of totale
Krieg apply in the case of the Iran-Iraq War. The casualties of this conflict were about
1 million people and the financial cost came to about $1190 billion. Iraq spent 50% of
its GDP on the war, and one-tenth of the Iraqi male population was mobilized for the
armed forces. Tehran even recruited child soldiers. In fact, the debilitating financial
burden of the war forced Saddam to invade Kuwait later in order to acquire its oil
reserves.
One of the principal aspects of total war is complete destruction of the enemy state.
Iran’s objective was truly revolutionary. It aimed to get rid of secular leaders such as
Saddam Hussein from the Islamic world. However, at least on Saddam’s part, his goals
were limited. He never visualized total destruction of Iran. His aim was to annex the oilrich
Khuzestan province with its Arab population in south-west Iran.
Book Reviews 535
To sum up, Johnson rightly says that the Iran-Iraq War was a war of illusions.
Moreover, the author correctly shows that the land war was more important than the
sporadic conflict in the Persian Gulf. Since mining of the Persian Gulf by the Iranians
threatened the west’s oil supply, hitherto western commentators have given undue importance
to the fighting in the Gulf sector. Credit is due to Johnson for writing an information-rich
narrative of one of the greatest conflicts of the post-Second World War era.
Journal of Shi'a Islamic Studies
Date: July 1, 2011
Journal of Shi‘a Islamic Studies Summer 2011 · Vol. IV · No. 3
351
Oil, Islam and Conflict: Central Asia Since 1945 by Rob Johnson, 2007.
London: Reaktion Books, x + 272 pp., map, £15.95. ISBN: 978-1-86189-339-0
(pbk). [AC]
D AGI D AGIEV
Department of Academic Research and Publication, The Institute of Ismaili Studies,
London, UK
ddagiev@iis.ac.uk
Oil, Islam and Conflict is about comparative assessments of the ‘oil
pipeline’ politics of the great powers, including the Central Asian
leaders, and the rise of militant Islam. The book is divided into ten
chapters. Each chapter discusses some of the region’s contemporary
issues, beginning with the events in Andijan on 13 May 2005, the civil
war in post-independence Tajikistan, separatist movements in Georgia,
the Armenian and Azeri conflict over Karabakh, and the Chechen war
for independence. The book captures the history of the Pakistan
Pashtun protégés seizing power in 1996 and the resistance of Shia
Hazarajat in the northern provinces of Pakistan. It also discusses
Muslim resistance to the Chinese rule in Xinjiang Province. The
Russian conquest of the region now called Central Asia, the
establishment of the Soviet Central Asian nations, and pan-Turkist
resistance to the Bolshevik rule are also addressed.
Oil, Islam and Conflict examines the techniques that the postCommunist
Central Asian elites have employed to maintain power. The
story begins with Kazakhstan (34), one of the most successful postCommunist
states in Central Asia due to its oil rich resources. Since
Kazakhstan’s independence, the author argues that President Nursultan
Nazarbayev and his family clan have been the main beneficiaries of the
high prices of oil and gas. Uzbekistan, a less successful former-Soviet
republic, has also benefited from booming oil and gas and it has
attracted investment from many Western countries. Johnson argues that
the Uzbek government, under the leadership of its current president,
Islam Karimov, has been eager to avoid social unrest and to preserve the
status quo. This policy has been at the expense of economic
development because the government has been highly sensitive of any
private or foreign investments. As Johnson illustrates President
Book Reviews
352
Karimov has dealt with opposition, particularly Islamic religious
groups, in a way that has been compared to Stalin.
Due to the Soviet policy of national territorial delimitation,
Tajikistan has been cut off from the historical and cultural centres such
as Samarqand and Bukhara, which are outside its territorial
jurisdiction. Therefore, after independence the lack of ‘national’ unity
meant that the country almost immediately descended into civil war
(46). Kyrgyzstan, like other states in Central Asia, owes its existence to
the Soviet rule in Central Asia. As a result of Gorbachev’s policies of
perestroika and glasnost, Akayev (a liberal head of the Kyrgyz Academy of
Sciences) was elected President in October 1990 (48). However, after
more than a decade of authoritarian rule which was associated with the
corruption of the Akayev’s family, Akayev was forced to flee the
country in 2005 following strong demonstrations.
Turkmenistan is another former Soviet national republic created by
the Bolsheviks in Central Asia. The country has been home to Turkmen
tribes who have lived there for centuries. Similar to Kazakhstan and
Uzbekistan, it is one of the richest countries given its gas and oil
reserves. With the collapse of the Soviet rule in 1991, the former first
secretary of the communist party, Saparmurat Niyazov, the
Turkmenbashi (the father of the Turkmen), became the president.
Turkmenistan was immediately struck by the ‘cult of the leader’. A
statue of Niyazov, made of gold, revolved on its dais so as to be
constantly facing the sun. Niyazov’s two volume book, Ruhnama,
became a compulsory subject of study at all schools (51).
Afghanistan, as a nation state, has a somewhat older pedigree than
the former Soviet republics. Afghanistan came into existence in the
eighteenth century, when a lasting independent dynasty was established
in Kabul under the Durranis. However, it was ‘Abd al-Rahman, the
ruler from 1881 to 1901, who set up the first rudimentary bureaucracy
and delimited the borders of his state (55). The country and its tribal
population never became united as one entity. According to Johnson,
the chaos and lawlessness that grew following the Iranian Revolution
encouraged the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan in 1979 (58).
Chapter 3 discusses Islam and Islamism. Johnson explains that with
the withdrawal of the Soviet army from Afghanistan and the return of
the Soviet soldiers to the Muslim countries of Central Asia, many
Soviet soldiers had embraced the Salafi and Wahhabi doctrines
professed by the Arab volunteer troops (64). Most importantly, with the
collapse of the Soviet Union, many young men from Central Asia
Journal of Shi‘a Islamic Studies Summer 2011 · Vol. IV · No. 3
353
enrolled in Pakistani madrasahs where they were introduced to the
Deobandi movement, a movement which had emerged in the
nineteenth century in British India and which was inspired by anticolonial
and anti-Western resistance. With the Soviet withdrawal from
Afghanistan in 1989, the Deobandis were convinced that it was them, by
force of will and divine providence, who had achieved victory. They
failed to acknowledge the financial and military support of the US.
They found common cause with the Saudi Salafis in their
interpretation of Islam, including their opposition to Shi‘ism and
Sufism in south-west Asia (65).
The invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union was seized by
Saudi Arabia and Iran as an opportunity to play out their rivalry. While
Iran supported Shi‘a resistance groups as a means of maintaining their
influence over its neighbours, the Saudis set up a Sunni, pro-Wahhabi,
regime in Kabul, in order to contain the influence of the Iranian Shi‘as.
Johnson explains that while Central Asian Islam traditionally has
always been tolerant of different practices, the Salafi trend represented a
wave of Islamist radicalism that is sweeping across Muslim world (71).
However, the rhetoric of the book is quite similar to the standard
rhetoric of Central Asian regimes; Islam Karimov, in particular, has
been blaming his opponents of being Islamic fundamentalists, radicals,
Salafis, and Wahhabis.
There are several factual inaccuracies in the book. The author states
that the Tajik civil war lasted 1992-96 (80), while it officially ended in 27
June, 1997 with the signing of the peace agreement between the Tajik
government and the United Tajik Opposition. The transliteration and
rendering of terms is not always accurate, as in the case of, Shakrisabz
rather than Shahrisabz (18); Chechulin rather than Chichurin (86); and
Nahzar-i Islami rather than Nahzat-i Islami (92). Furthermore, the
author’s approach towards the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
is almost identical to the view of the Uzbek government. Johnson says
‘that they and their allies control 70 per cent of the regional drugs trade
to fund their organisations’ (114). But one of the reasons for the
radicalisation of the Muslim people is the authoritarian rule of the
regimes in Central Asia; the drugs trade is mostly controlled by
government officials rather than the IMU.
Oil, Islam and Conflict is not a dense research monograph but rather
an engaging discussion written in a journalistic style. The study
represents a comparative survey of the region which is now Central
Asia, and as such it deserves some attention. It is not without merit to
Book Reviews
354
use a comparative approach to discuss the political, social, and
economic changes in the former Soviet regions of Central Asia, in the
disputed Xinjiang province of China, and in present-day Afghanistan.
All these countries are mainly inhabited by Muslims who have
experienced both colonial rule and the imposition of communist
ideology in the twentieth century, and who presently face the revival
and rise of Islam and Islamism.
QUOTE:
this work is not based on primary sources, which are
then carefully sifted and analysed. Rather, it appears to have been conceived as a
handy guide for those who have no time or desire to penetrate more deeply into
issues that are topical but, by their very nature, not easy to unravel. The intention
was no doubt laudable, aimed at providing quick answers to difficult questions.
There is a market for such works. Nevertheless, they should be treated with
caution, because they not only oversimplify, they also over-dramatize, complex
issues. Far from leading to a better understanding of the world, they risk creating
more confusion and obfuscation.
Akiner, Shirin. Journal of Islamic Studies. Sep2009, Vol. 20 Issue 3, p455-457. 3p. DOI: 10.1093/jis/etp028.
Oil, Islam and Conflict: Central Asia since 1945
By Rob Johnson (London: Reaktion Books, 2007), 296 pp. Maps.
Bibliography. Index. Price PB £15.95. EAN 978–1861893390.
The thematic emphasis of this book is stated unambiguously by its title, which
picks out three pot-boiling issues: Oil, Islam and above all (written in larger
letters than the other two words), Conflict. The geographic focus is described as
‘Central Asia’. Like all such regional designations, this term can be interpreted in
many different ways. Usually, however, there is some underlying historical,
cultural or political rationale for the definition. Here, the link, as explained in the
Preface, is that of emerging ‘battlefields’. This enables the author to range over a
vast territory, stretching from the Black Sea to the Tarim Basin, from the borders
of Siberia to the Indian subcontinent. This would be a daunting undertaking for
the most erudite scholar, encompassing as it does countries and regions with very
different social structures, historical experiences, levels of development,
educational systems, forms of governance and so on. However, a glance at the
bibliography reveals that this work is not based on primary sources, which are
then carefully sifted and analysed. Rather, it appears to have been conceived as a
handy guide for those who have no time or desire to penetrate more deeply into
issues that are topical but, by their very nature, not easy to unravel. The intention
was no doubt laudable, aimed at providing quick answers to difficult questions.
There is a market for such works. Nevertheless, they should be treated with
caution, because they not only oversimplify, they also over-dramatize, complex
issues. Far from leading to a better understanding of the world, they risk creating
more confusion and obfuscation.
The first two chapters are evidently designed to set the historical framework.
The author hurtles through the period from the mid-nineteenth century to the
present in Afghanistan and the former Soviet Central Asian republics—regions
which have quite separate trajectories of development—at (for this reviewer)
such breakneck speed that the result was chaotic. A mere chronological list of
events would have been more enlightening because that at least would have given
an orderly sense of the pace and scale of social and economic change that took
place in this period. In the Soviet republics, this was a time of rapid
modernization and development. This had a profound impact on people’s way
of thinking, their aspirations, their work ethic and professional training. In
book reviews 455
particular, the lives of women were transformed by the introduction of free and
compulsory education for all, opening the way to hitherto undreamt of career
opportunities. Islam continued to play a role in society, but in the private rather
than the public sphere. Certainly there was state control, and at times coercion;
in the 1930s, as elsewhere in the Soviet Union, there was outright terror. Yet the
story is not so simple. This period is full of contradictions, grey areas in which
loss and gain are inextricably interwoven. Such nuances have no place in the
book under review. Instead, a narrative without context and depth is presented.
In places, the text is frankly misleading. To take just one example, on p. 53 it is
stated that ‘Turkmenistan [...] has been unable to sell its natural gas in the
quantities it would like because of disputes between the littoral states over
the resources of the Caspian and the lack of pipelines out of the country.’ What is
the evidence for this? Far from not being able to sell its gas, Turkmenistan has
signed up to so many agreements for gas exports that until the recent
confirmation (2008) of its reserves by an independent audit, there were fears
that it would not be able to meet all its commitments. As for price, it currently
charges Russian Gazprom $300 per 1,000 cubic metres—hardly a knock-down
bargain price. It is true that Turkmen gas was previously sold at a lower rate, but
the price was linked to other factors. Regarding the situation in 1994, for
example, there were many different issues involved, but the comment ‘instability
of policy caused by the personality of Niyazov’ was surely not the main
problem—arguably, it was his intransigence (or extreme caution) which was the
chief stumbling block to agreements with foreign investors.
There is a short chapter on ‘Islam and Islamism’ that skips through different
periods, trends and events in such a condensed, impressionistic fashion that it is
hard to see how this could enlighten the curious reader. A brief description of the
activities of the transnational Islamist movement Hizb ut-Tahrir (Liberation
Party) is included here. Separate chapters are devoted to the Islamic Renaissance
Party of Tajikistan, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan/Turkestan, and the
Taliban of Afghanistan. The style of presentation in all these sections follows the
same pattern as previously—a hasty summary of some selected facts, with little
background and very superficial analysis. Separate chapters are also devoted to
the Chechen and Caucasus wars, likewise to China and Xinjiang. The work
concludes with chapters on ‘Hydrocarbons and the Great Powers’, and
‘Trajectories’, widening the scope still further to include Pakistan, Iran, Turkey
and the Arab states.
It may be argued that the above criticisms are unnecessarily carping. After all,
this is not an academic tome and, given the format, one could not reasonably
expect much in terms of in-depth analysis. However, one cannot help but wonder
who the target audience is. The author comments (p. 9) that Central Asia ‘is
barely understood in the West’. It is true that in the early 1990s few Westerners
had direct knowledge of this region and such literature as was available mostly
took the form of specialized disciplinary studies. In those early years, Central
Asians and foreigners alike had unrealistic expectations of one another. That time
has now passed. Not only is there now a substantial (and constantly growing)
456 book reviews
fund of material on all aspects of Central Asia, but there are also numerous
personal contacts. Representatives of foreign governments, international development
agencies, banks, commercial corporations, military and security
organizations and many other such bodies, public and private, frequently visit
the area; some have established permanent bases there. Thus, a considerable
amount of first-hand knowledge has been accumulated.
In these years, the difficult and at times painful lesson that foreigners have had
to learn is that the Central Asians are far more highly trained, sophisticated and
self-confident than had originally been anticipated. They are also well informed
about their neighbours and about developments in other parts of the world, so
are able to position themselves accordingly. Consequently, when considering
‘future trajectories’ it is essential to take into account the administrative and
decision-making capacity in these states. They are not pawns to be shuffled
around by the ‘big powers’. On the contrary, they are shrewd players, fully
competent to dictate their own terms to any potential partner. Kazakhstan’s
manoeuvrings to strengthen its control over Kashagan and other energy projects
has provided ample illustration of this. Similar cases could be cited from the
other states.
As a result of such experiences, Westerners who deal directly with Central
Asians are fully aware of the need to look beyond simplistic labels and headlines.
Students and ‘quality’ journalists have also become more discriminating in their
approach to the region. This would seem to leave the lay reader as the main
audience for this book. No doubt some will be impressed by its sensational title
and may well find the arguments attractive. Yet the danger with populist
approaches is that they stoke fear and feed prejudice. ‘Oil, Islam and Conflict’ are
not a natural, or logical, trio. Each of these topics has its own history and
geographic specificity. To make any sort of sense of them requires a thorough,
case-by-case approach. Only then can valid comparisons be drawn and, on that
basis, tentative conclusions may be outlined.
Shirin Akiner
Cambridge Central Asia Forum, University of Cambridge
E-mail: akiner@dsl.pipex.com
doi:10.1093/jis/etp028
QUOTE:
In exploring a theater overshadowed by events on Western Front, the author does the historiography of the Great War real service. Among the many books that mark the centennial of the First World War, this is one with enduring value and is highly recommended.
The Great War and the Middle East
A Strategic Study
Rob Johnson
Oxford University Press, New York, 2016, 400 pages
Book Review published on: June 23, 2017
On 13 November 1918 the British battleship HMS Agamemnon steamed through the Dardanelles and anchored off the Ottoman capital of Constantinople. The moment was hugely symbolic. The Great War was over and the Agamemnon and the squadron it led represented Britain’s triumph over the Ottoman Empire. The battleship also served as a reminder of the trials the British had overcome in winning their war in the Middle East. Three years earlier, the Agamemnon had served in the ill-fated Gallipoli operation, which, like the contemporaneous Siege of Kut, had ended in embarrassing failure. Yet, in the wake of these twin debacles, the British recovered, redoubled their efforts, and eventually triumphed against the Ottomans. If, as historian Rob Johnson argues, the First World War was an imperial war, then the British Empire was a clear victor.
It was a hard-fought victory. Johnson’s book The Great War and the Middle East approaches it by offering a strategic overview of the critically important but often overlooked war between the Ottoman Empire and the allies. In doing so, the author argues this struggle during war was far from being a sideshow (as it is often seen in other histories of World War I). The British, in particular, saw the war in the Middle East as crucial to preserving their empire. For Russia, the Ottomans entry into the war meant a choke hold on any aid that came from the Western allies. For France, the anticipated collapse of the Turkish-led Empire meant a chance to establish a French presence in the eastern Mediterranean. And for the Ottomans, of course, the war was an existential conflict.
Johnson provides a clear and readable account of a very complex series of campaigns. His goal is to offer a study which “illustrates the interactions of decision-making with the prevailing concepts, context, and changing conditions.” In particular, he demonstrates that strategic designs, like tactical planning, rarely survive first contact with the enemy or events. He opens with a useful account of the nature of grand strategy and the rival interests each major power brought to the conflict. He follows that with a description of battles, engagements, and diplomatic maneuvers that range from the German efforts to incite anti-British jihad in Afghanistan, to the trench warfare in the Sinai, to T. E. Lawrence’s famous raids on the Hejaz Railway, and to the frozen battlefronts of the Caucasus. Johnson’s coverage of the various sub-theaters vary; he descends to the battalion level when describing actions such as the attempted relief of Kut in 1915 or the breakthrough at Gaza two years later. In other cases, such as the Battle of Sarikamish, where the English-language sources are limited, the account is more broad brush. Throughout, Johnson relates the course of the war in the Middle East to the more well-known fighting on the Western Front. The author does an especially good job of showing the legacy of the war that includes numerous follow-on wars.
In exploring a theater overshadowed by events on Western Front, the author does the historiography of the Great War real service. Among the many books that mark the centennial of the First World War, this is one with enduring value and is highly recommended.
Book Review written by: Scott Stephenson, PhD, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas