Seminars in Peace and Conflict Studies: “Bullets Not Ballots: Success in Counterinsurgency Warfare”, Dr Jacqueline L. Hazelton

The Centre for Global Security Challenges (CGSC), School of Politics and International Studies are delighted to welcome Dr Jacqueline L. Hazelton, Assistant Professor in the Department of Strategy and Policy at the U.S. Naval War College and International Security Program Associate at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School, for a “Seminars in Peace and Conflict Studies” guest lecture on Wednesday 2 June, at 17:00.

Registration: https://universityofleeds.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZItcOCoqzosE9ccxr0mynR_gY6qt5hGX9Kw

In this lecture titled “Bullets Not Ballots: Success in Counterinsurgency Warfare” Dr Hazelton will discuss her new book with Cornell University Press which was published in May 2021. An abstract is provided below:

Abstract:

Bullets Not Ballots challenges the claim that winning "hearts and minds" is critical to successful counterinsurgency campaigns. Good governance, this conventional wisdom holds, gains the besieged government popular support, denies support to the insurgency, and makes military victory possible. The book instead argues that major counterinsurgent successes since World War II have resulted not through democratic reforms but rather through the use of military force against civilians and the co-optation of rival elites.

Offering new analyses of five historical cases frequently held up as examples of the effectiveness of good governance in ending rebellions—the Malayan Emergency, the Greek Civil War, the Huk Rebellion in the Philippines, the Dhofar rebellion in Oman, and the Salvadoran Civil War—the book shows that, although unpalatable, it was really brutal repression and bribery that brought each conflict to an end. By showing how compellence works in intrastate conflicts, Bullets Not Ballots makes clear that whether or not the international community decides these human, moral, and material costs are acceptable, responsible policymaking requires recognizing the actual components of counterinsurgent success—and the limited influence that external powers have over the tactics of counterinsurgent elites.

Dr Hazelton specializes in international security. Her research interests include grand strategy, military intervention, counterinsurgency, terrorism, and U.S. foreign and military policy. Formerly an International Journalist with the Associated Press, she received her Ph.D. from the Politics Department at Brandeis University. Her B.A. and first M.A. are in English Literature from the University of Chicago. Her second M.A., also from Chicago, is in international relations. At the Belfer Center, Hazelton is working on her second book, which explores the reasons why Western great powers sometimes set ambitious liberalizing goals for military interventions.