Guerrilla Forces Research Articles

Contesting elite capture: Repositioning insurgent planning for mass movements

Some scholars have called on insurgent planning to contest the elite capture of our cities. We take this opportunity to critique and thicken the original conceptual formulation of insurgent planning and explore the limitations of its resistance against elite capture. The view that we challenge suggests that insurgent action should be folded into institutionalized planning practice in order that urban planners—wielding expert knowledge and technical skills bestowed upon them by their discipline—might harness insurgent forces from the margins to bring about change. Instead, we leverage the “people as infrastructure” framework to argue that insurgent planning faces major challenges posed by a concretizing elite-captured urban landscape and highly entrenched, pervasive capitalist ideology. We advocate and reiterate that potent counter-elite capture tactics continuously emerge from outside of institutionalized planning, arising from the changemaking power of marginalized urbanites and, once united, into mass movements transformative of social relations.

Conflicts and Hostilities between the Ustashe and the Green Cadre in Posavina at the end of the Second World War, with a special focus on Orašje

The conflicts and general relations between the Ustashe and the Green Cadre (Bosnian Mountaineers) in Posavina during the last few months of the Second World War are examined in this article within the context of the general situation on the European and Yugoslav fronts, as the final collapse of fascist Germany and its satellites in Europe was already looming. As the end of the war approached, relations between the Ustashe and the Green Cadre, especially in Posavina, became increasingly tense and complicated. There were more frequent misunderstandings and conflicts between smaller Ustasha units, mostly comprised of Catholic Croats, and the Bosnian Mountaineers (Green Cadre), predominantly composed of Bosnian Muslims (or officially referred to as Croatian Muslims of Islamic faith). These conflicts in the Posavina region, around Brčko, Gradačac, Modriča, Šamac, and Orašje, are viewed in this article as an illustration of the real state of affairs regarding the relationship between the Independent State of Croatia (Ustasha military and civilian authorities) and Bosnian Muslims (in general) during the Second World War. These relationships were undoubtedly very complex and multi-layered, burdened with many local specificities that sometimes did not fit into some well-known schemes and narratives. There is ample evidence that the vast majority of the Muslim population, after initial expressions of loyalty and hope, were generally reserved and distrustful towards the Ustasha regime. Racial laws, repression, and persecution of Serbs, Jews, and other „undesirable elements“, followed by the insurgent wave as a response to this repression, instilled fear and insecurity among the population, leading to bloodshed and retaliatory actions in which Muslim civilians suffered. Already in the second half of 1941, prominent Bosnian Muslims publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with the state of the country by signing resolutions in Sarajevo and several Bosnian cities, demanding that the regime cease repression based on race, persecutions, and killings of innocent civilians, primarily Serbs and Jews. On the other hand, spontaneous self-organization for defense against the Serbian insurgent forces in the form of village militias and legions in several areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina was a result of distrust in the ability (and willingness) of the Croatian state to defend them and ensure a peaceful life, especially after the agreement with the Chetniks in mid-1942. The most organized was certainly the DOMDO battalion of Muhamed-age Hadžiefendić, which would actively operate from the beginning of 1942 until the autumn of 1943 in the Tuzla area. After the first fall of Tuzla into the hands of the Partisans on October 2, 1943, its collapse and complete disappearance would begin. Shortly after those dramatic events around Tuzla, from the remaining peripheral parts of the DOMDO battalion (Zvornik, Živinice, Gračanica, later Brčko), units of the Green Cadre (later: „Bosnian Mountaineers“) would be formed, which the Ustasha regime reluctantly had to tolerate. It is no coincidence that the high military-political authorities of the Independent State of Croatia classified those units as „rebels“ in their official reports. Until the end of the war, they were treated as an unreliable element against the interests of the Independent State of Croatia, which had to be kept under control and disarmed and dispersed at an opportune moment. Under increased pressure from the NOVJ units, tensions and distrust between the units of the Green Cadre („Bosnian Mountaineers“) on one side and the Ustasha on the other side intensified from September 1944 onwards. From the end of 1944, these tensions escalated into armed conflicts in several places in Bosnian Posavina. Here, misunderstandings and conflicts in Modriča, Odžak, Šamac, and Orašje are taken as examples. The most drastic and consequential conflict was the one in Orašje, which took place from March 12-14, 1945, and is given special emphasis here. In this work, an attempt has been made to break local myths with historical facts, as well as, since earlier, deeply entrenched stereotypes, that the Ustaše and the „Green Cadre“ were, in fact, one and the same, that they had the same goals, and that they fought for the „same cause“. This identification aimed to „attach“ to Bosnian Muslims as much Ustasha ideology as to Catholic Croats, as much as Chetnik ideology to Orthodox Serbs. Accordingly, it determined the extent of their participation on the winning side. Only by demystifying these imposed, fundamentally mistaken perceptions from our past, can we build a culture of memory, trust, and good interethnic relations, both in ethnically mixed communities and at the level of the entire Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is the purpose and meaning of this research.

WOMEN IN THE AGE OF MEXICAN REVOLUTION FRANCISCO ROJAS GONZÁLEZ’S LA NEGRA ANGUSTIAS

This paper examines the role of women in the Mexican Revolution starting from the novel La Negra Angustias written by the Mexican writer Francisco Rojas González. The research is based on the assumption that the protagonist of the novel, Angustias Farrera, symbolically represents a powerless and downtrodden part of the Mexican population that, after centuries of suffering oppression, rises up in arms demanding a respect of basic human rights. We point out that in the period of the Mexican Revolution (1910– 1920), Angustias gets the opportunity to transform from a marginalised and passive mulatto peasant woman into an active social factor that tends to change the social system. As the military officer that forms part of the Liberation Army of the South, guerrilla force led by Emiliano Zapata, one of the most famous Mexican revolutionaries, Angustias stands up for the vulnerable part of the Mexican population, primarily women, demanding the right to freedom, independence and education. Her initial enthusiasm, however, gradually weakens under the influence of the teacher with whom she falls in love. The teacher Manuel in this Novel of the Mexican Revolution plays the role of an opportunistic intellectual who joins the Mexican Revolution in order to gain material benefit. By getting married with a greedy opportunist, Angustias abandons the revolution, and betrays her friends and ideals. From an active military officer, Angustias once again becomes a passive woman whose role in the context of the patriarchal Mexican culture is reduced to a self-sacrificing wife and mother. Therefore, following the fate of this revolutionary woman from childhood to adulthood, we try to follow the course of the Mexican Revolution in terms of armed rebellion, from the initial excitement, through the heated struggles to a status quo return.

The Neglected Campaign: The Italian Navy Contribution to the Siege of Leningrad

German and Finnish forces encircled Leningrad in the fall of 1941, but were unable to complete the siege. A passage across Lake Ladoga, through which the Soviets sustained the defence of the city, remained open. To enforce the siege, the German Maritime Warfare Command ordered that light naval forces be transferred to Lake Ladoga. However, the Germans did not have those boats at their disposal and asked the Italians to provide them. Based on a critique of archival sources, this article analyses this largely neglected aspect of the Leningrad campaign and argues that, although the performance of the Regia Marina was excellent, its activity was not decisive in breaking Soviet resistance and forcing the fall of Leningrad. Even though circumstances prevented the Regia Marina from making the impact that its planners had wanted – a naval guerrilla force on Lake Ladoga could never have achieved a tight blockade of Leningrad – the campaign on Lake Ladoga offers an important and enlightening example of Axis wartime collaboration.

Artillery and Drone Action Issues in the War in Ukraine

Abstract Technological developments in recent decades in multiple fields have revolutionised the actions of armed forces, as recently confirmed in the war in Ukraine where NATO countries’ artillery and missiles have undeniably outperformed the outdated spectrum of previous counter-insurgency actions, and the counter-battery fire of self-propelled weapons systems far exceeded the limits of the Iraq and Afghanistan theatres of operations, where such a response was easy to achieve because insurgent forces had no idea that such precise, coordinated and effective action was available at discovered targets. Drones have also become an inseparable part of military operations and have developed in an unprecedented way, being hardly detectable, precise, equipped with weaponry, radars, optoelectronic search means with sensors and modern communication and computer systems. Today, but especially in the future, the actions of drones and artillery means executing counter-battery fire will become indispensable in military operations to achieve desirable effects, and at the same time modern armies must have active and passive means of engagement and countermeasures against them to achieve effective force protection.

Perjuangan Rakyat dalam Mempertahankan Kemerdekaan Indonesia Pada Agresi Militer II 1948-1949 di Pulau Jawa

The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence was promulgated on 17 August 1945. Nevertheless, this had not yet freed Indonesia from the colonial grip in September 1945 the Dutch came back to Indonesia by leaking allied troops who had then won World War II. This study was conducted using historical methods to obtain a truth from past events regarding the people's struggle during the Second Dutch Military Aggression on Java Island. The result of this study was the Second Dutch Military Aggression carried out in 1948–1949 with the focus of its attacks on Java and Sumatra. Resistance on Java was guerrilla by Indonesian military leaders and people who rejoiced to join the militia. In West Java the struggle was fought by the Siliwangi Division and other military leaders, in Central Java the struggle was fought by the guerrilla forces of General Sudirman and its military members as well as in East Java. This guerilla strategy successfully disrupted Dutch defenses in Indonesia. Until the Treaty of Roem-Royen was signed as a form of truce and military aggression in Indonesia.

A light footprint in Syria: operational art in operation inherent resolve

ABSTRACT Special Operations Forces (SOF) played an important role in defeating the Islamic State (ISIS) physical caliphate in Syria. Acting as a force multiplier, SOF successfully mobilized, armed, supplied, and directed an indigenous guerrilla force across northern Syria against a numerically superior entrenched enemy. This effort was underpinned by a flexible operational approach that adapted operational art to the unique characteristics of unconventional warfare. This paper provides a case study on the conflict with ISIS in Syria, focusing on the first phase of the campaign from 2014 until 2016, examining the elements of operational art which had the most significant impact on the outcome of the conflict. The application of operational art throughout the campaign sought to preserve and strengthen the friendly center of gravity – the Syrian Defense Forces, or SDF – by improving access to critical capabilities, controlling tempo, recognizing culmination criteria, and properly phasing operations and resources. SOF’s practice of sustained engagement garnered influence with the SDF and provided situational awareness to key decision makers, connecting tactics to strategy, engendering mutual trust, and allowing the agility that led to battlefield success.

Peruvian Cinema of the Twenty-First Century: Dynamic and Unstable Grounds ed. by Cynthia Vich and Sarah Barrow (review)

Reviewed by: Peruvian Cinema of the Twenty-First Century: Dynamic and Unstable Grounds ed. by Cynthia Vich and Sarah Barrow Nayibe Bermúdez Vich, Cynthia, and Sarah Barrow, eds. Peruvian Cinema of the Twenty-First Century: Dynamic and Unstable Grounds. Switzerland: Springer Nature, 2020. 356 pp. ISBN 9783030525118. The vibrancy of Peruvian cinema of recent years has produced energetic waves that are slowly but gradually changing the national film scene on several fronts. Peruvian film has seen an increase in the sheer variety of narrative content and places of enunciation, numerous cinematic forms and formats, and wider alternative spheres of circulation, distribution, and consumption. Moreover, in the consecration of "Peruvian regional cinema," which has started to disrupt the Lima bubble as arbiter of film and cultural production in the country, Peruvian cinema is making large strides towards a healthier positioning in the national and global imaginations. These vibrant waves splash also onto the academic field as reflected in Cynthia Vich and Sarah Barrow's anthology, Peruvian Cinema of the Twenty-First Century: Dynamic and Unstable Grounds, which succeeds in its goal to frame the country's cinematic landscape with rapport to the social, economic, and political context of neoliberal Peru. There is no need to rehearse here the dearth of research leading to wide-ranging anthological analyses of the cinemas of Peru. Suffice it to say that along articles disseminated in journals, magazines, chapters in global film books, online and in other media, only a nascent history of specialized research in English has scratched the surface of the field, as exemplified in Jeffrey Middents' Writing National Cinema: Film Journals and Film Culture in Peru (2009) and Sarah Barrow's monograph, Contemporary Peruvian Cinema: History, Identity and Violence on Screen (2018). For those conversant in Spanish, Vich and Barrow's book complements and is complemented by the writings of leading experts such as Ricardo Bedoya and Emilio Bustamante, whose most recent books, El cine peruano en tiempos digitales, 2015 and Las miradas múltiples: el cine regional peruano, 2017, respectively, attest [End Page 163] to the achievements of film criticism in Peru and the new heights of Peruvian cinemas. As the first English-language compilation, and through its focus on the first two decades of the twenty-first century, Vich and Barrow's Peruvian Cinema of the Twenty-First Century: Dynamic and Unstable Grounds comes as a fresh breath of air into Northern scholarship on Peruvian cinema and global analyses of the cinemas of Latin America. In the introduction to their edited compilation, Vich and Barrow tie the significant upsurge in Peruvian film production to the end of the war (1980-2000) between the Peruvian State and the guerrilla forces of Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso). As one of the book's stated goals, they pinpoint the showcasing of "films that, highlighting the wide spectrum of contemporary experience, lie at opposite ends of the ideological positioning toward the realities of the Peruvian nation as reinvented through neoliberalism" (6). Indeed, the editors frame their approach through a national lens that connects cinema to the diversity of Peruvian voices coming through from different cultural, gender, and socio-economic identities, to developments in the film sector, and to political and economic trends. This framework allows for the conceptualization of the cinemas of Peru as cultural artifacts that participate in and promote decentralization, diversification, and the inclusion of Indigenous cultures and languages into national dynamics. Towards this end, the collection seeks to address the relationship of production and target audience with market dynamics, while also identifying the myriad of accomplishments and the levels of precariousness that continue to plague Peruvian cinema in all areas. Under such parameters, Peruvian Cinema of the Twenty-First Century: Dynamic and Unstable Grounds is organized in two overarching categories, the first of which, "The Market Dynamics of Peruvian Cinema," comprises three sections: 'Big budget production for local entertainment,' comprising 2 articles; 'Regional low budget drama,' consisting in 3 articles; and 'Art film for festival circuits,' which constitutes the bulk of the discussion with 8 articles. What connects these pieces is the study of films whose production and consumption modes depend on market forces; while, what differentiates the contributions are the production...

Veliki ilirski ustanak u radovima bosanskohercegovačkih naučnika

Modern Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the countries whose territories were most affected by the war during Baton’s uprising. Even the main leader of the insurgent forces, Bato Deasidiate, according to sources and literature, was originally from central Bosnia. For that reason, the mentioned uprising can be considered one of the most important events in the history of BiH. Systematic archaeological research in this area began only in the 19th century, after the Austro-Hungarian occupation in 1878. It is important to note that the term Bosnian is not used in this paper only if the scientist came from these areas. Those who worked in Bosnia and Herzegovina (especially Truhelka, Patsch and Bojanovski), whose works have left an indelible mark on the further development of historiography and archeology, will also be taken in this paper. The number of these works points to the fact that in BiH, Bato’s uprising is finally at the center of scientific work and research. Any change of government leads to historical events, in this case the Great Illyrian Uprising, being viewed through the prism of the ruling ideology.

Mozambique Civil War and Farida Karodia’s A Shattering of Silence

Mozambique civil war was fought between Mozambique’s ruling Marxist ‘Front for the Liberation of Mozambique’ (FRELIMO) and anti-communist insurgent forces of the ‘Mozambican National Resistance’ (RENAMO). Through the story of Faith, the novel reveals the reality of hundreds of thousands of children all over the world who are the victims of war, hunger, and political corruption. Being the sufferer of apartheid system, Farida Karodia has extensively written about the war, segregation during the apartheid, social and political situations in South Africa. ‘A Shattering of Silence’ deals with the history of colonialism and its brutal effects on the people of Africa.

‘Destructors’ in action, support for insurgents: case study of the Third Silesian Uprising

ABSTRACT After regaining independence in 1918, Poland faced many fundamental and strategic challenges. One of them was the issue of border crossings on the German-Polish border in Silesia. It was a region dominated by modern heavy industry, to which both the modern states laid claim. The course of the border was to be decided by a plebiscite, but the parties to the conflict resorted to violence and military means. In a complicated international situation and without the possibility of open military intervention, Poland effectively used the strategic tool of special operations – known more widely today as unconventional warfare. Thanks to their skillful application, the German military advantage was effectively eliminated and strategic goals were achieved. Poles effectively cut lines of communication, making it impossible to support pro-German organizations in Silesia, and successfully organized insurgent forces that achieved the goals important for Poland’s development policy. This paper tells the story of a special mission unit called the Destruction Group ‘Wawelberg’ and its use as a tool for implementing the state policy of unconventional warfare during the Third Silesian Uprising.

Hostile terrain: on the spatial and affective conditions for revolution

ABSTRACT In 1966, Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara arrived in south-east Bolivia assuming that the region’s forested mountains and the poverty of the peasantry constituted ‘favourable terrain’ to start a revolution. Instead, he encountered a hostile terrain that led to the defeat of his guerrilla force and to his death. In this article, I offer a spatial and affective analysis of Guevara’s conceptualizations of ‘favourable’ and ‘unfavourable’ terrain, of his gendered experience of a ‘hostile terrain’ in Bolivia, and of how these ideas and his emphasis on revolutionary determination were subsequently debated and reformulated by guerrilla fighters and radical movements in Latin America. Drawing from an analysis of the interface between terrain, place and territory in rebellions, I show how the dichotomy between favourable and unfavourable terrain misses that spatially attuned insurrections can potentially weaponize any type of terrain, but also that they always confront a ‘hostile terrain’, understood as the social and territorial conditions that hinder their spatial proliferation. This means conceptualizing revolutions as spatial and affective processes through which determined multitudes overcome this hostility by attuning to place, empowering their strategies through engagements with different types of terrain, and expanding rebel territories. I conclude by discussing why these questions are relevant today to radical politics amid the climate crisis.

Joining the fight: the Italian foreign fighters contingent of the Kurdish People's Protection Units

AbstractSince the emergence of the Islamic State (ISIS) as one of the leading insurgent forces in Syria and Iraq in the 2010s, the academic literature has increasingly focused on the phenomenon of foreign fighters. Most studies have analyzed transnational insurgents joining the ISIS; however, research on non-jihadi foreign fighters remains underdeveloped. The article sheds much-needed light on the factors motivating non-jihadi fighters to join conflicts abroad. Specifically, it presents the findings of an in-depth analysis of the factors leading Italian nationals to join the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG/YPJ)1 after 2011, their military contribution on the battlefield, and their reasons for returning to Italy. The contributions of the paper are twofold. First, it enriches our general understanding of the motivations of non-jihadi foreign fighters through detailed qualitative analysis, including first-hand accounts and an analysis of fighters' biographies. Second, it offers a more complete picture of the specific factors informing the Italian experience of transnational non-jihadi fighters in recent years. The qualitative data highlight the role of non-material factors in triggering the armed mobilization of foreign fighters. The findings indicate that the Italian foreign fighters contingent within the YPG/YPJ and the SDF has been highly committed, made up mostly of young males with no military experience, and had little to no impact on the battlefield.

Che Guevara and continental revolution

ABSTRACT The Cuban Revolution has inspired the guerrilla struggle in Latin America. Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara was directly involved in processes that contributed to the organization of guerrilla forces in various Latin American countries. In this article, we argue that already at the beginning of the 1960s Guevara started to help organize and coordinate the organization of the revolutionary armed struggle in the Latin American continent. He considered that local socialist revolutions would not be able to survive if these were not accompanied by revolutionary struggle in other parts of Latin America. This paper presents Guevara’s ideas on the necessity of continental revolution, in the context of United States military interventions in Latin America. It describes in detail Cuba’s and Che’s involvement in the organization of various guerrilla activities in South America, and demonstrates that guerrilla processes in Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina were the first stones for the development of continental guerrilla warfare.

SERBIAN STATE GUARD IN OCCUPIED SERBIA 1942-1944

The subject of this article is the Serbian State Guard – an armed formation created in occupied Serbia in early March 1942. It arose out of the need of the occupiers and collaborators for a stronger and more organized unit that would more successfully confront the insurgent forces in the territory of Serbia. The primary objective of our research was the reconstruction of its creation, organization, mode of operation, combat activities, and make-up XXX. Created on the basis of the pre-war gendarmerie, in the specific conditions of wartime chaos in Serbia, it retained its primarily police character, although it formed larger and more mobile military units when needed. Finally, the fate of this formation after its inclusion in the ranks of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland (i.e., the Chetniks of Draža Mihailović) and its going into exile was presented. The source-materials used for this paper are kept mostly in the Military Archive in Belgrade. We have also used documents kept in the Belgrade Historical Archives, the State Archives of Serbia, as well as in the local historical archives in Niš.

On the Use of Guerrillas in Defense of Stateless Territory

Rothbard (1999) argues that morality and utility require a guerrilla defense of libertarian societies, an assessment shared by many libertarian thinkers. This paper reviews the literature on guerrilla warfare to consider whether guerrilla forces alone, wielding small arms and light weapons, could successfully defend anarcho-capitalist territory. Despite the romance that surrounds them, the expert consensus is that guerrilla wars are fought only out of necessity by relatively weak powers. They are protracted wars of attrition fought on one’s own territory and as such are highly destructive of the defending homelands. If the enemy does not distinguish between military and civilian targets, as is likely to be the case in a war with anarchist citizen-soldiers, defeat is almost assured. Guerrillas are most effective as complements to regular forces rather than as substitutes, and a strictly guerrilla defense should be employed only as a last resort in the event of a collapse of the regular army or an inability to raise an army.

Why the U.S. Military Lost Afghanistan

Why did Afghanistan falter as a U.S. partner? America’s war in Afghanistan was lost for many reasons, but the U.S. military contributed to its downfall in two ways. First, U.S. combat units, trained to fight conventional battles, conducted counterterrorism operations (aka “search and destroy” missions) against guerilla forces that resulted in hardening the resolve of the enemy while causing widespread and senseless civilian casualties. Second, the Afghan military could not exist without U.S. logistical and material support. Because the Afghan Army was trained and equipped to fight a conventional-type war, they were incapable of operating independent of U.S. support, and could not survive on their own against guerrilla forces in a protracted civil war. Therefore, the Afghan security forces were not properly trained and equipped, demonstrating that the U.S. military repeated mistakes of the Vietnam War. It is argued that the United States must temper its conventional warfare mindset and re-direct resources toward improved ways to conduct limited wars against irregular adversaries. The constabulary forces concept described by Morris Janowitz is a feasible way to improve the chances that U.S. forces will succeed in such limited wars.

The Militancy of (Black) Memory

In August 2020, prominent race scholar and thinker on anti-racism Ibram X. Kendi wrote an article in the Atlantic titled, “Is This the Beginning of the End of American Racism?” The subtitle read: “Donald Trump has revealed the depths of the country’s prejudice—and has inadvertently forced a reckoning.” Kendi’s words, though likely meant to be a rhetorical device, are one of many examples of the ways that white people’s discovery of racism, anti-Blackness, and, perhaps, Blackness, in general, is often valorized as an indicator of progress toward the democratic ideals so many believe to belie American society and culture. But what does the centering of white discovery mean for Black memory? What does white ignorance demand of Black people? How are Black Americans transcending dominator logics that often hold captive both memory and history-making power? Through a synthesis of Nietzsche’s conception of memory as a site of identity and community formation and Charles Mills’s theory of “white ignorance,” I argue that the log-ics and practices handed down intergenerationally by white Americans through the imperial project of whiteness induce a process of history- erasing and world remaking. Yet, piercing through this deployment of intentional and facilitated white ignorance, collective memory within Black communities, and specifically through Black-led social movements, is a form of militancy and resistance that disrupts the insinuated social order established by mainstream, white supremacist normativity. Of particular importance is the fact that this militancy, an insurgent force that has reverberated across the globe, opens up new avenues for Black world-building, futurity, and political imagination deemed impossible under current carceral conditions, irreconcilable with present-day politics, and incompatible with white-centered notions of justice, liberty, and democratic freedom. Critically, in this moment, as Black Americans are disproportionately harmed by the effects of COVID-19, hypersurveilled in neighborhoods plagued by neoliberal disinvestment, and over-policed en masse, mass movements like Black Lives Matter have disrupted, interrupted, and reoriented the social landscape toward a disconnection in the white supremacist archival practices that have long defined Western postcolonial culture. Now, young Black Americans, in particular, challenge notions of time, lineage, and world-making by rebuking the erasure of Black memory and Black futurity. In fact, it is through this collective memory, in the form of social organizing, community education projects, and other intraracial resistance efforts, that the anti-Black, white supremacist frameworks of ignorance may be dismantled wholesale. As the country continues to grapple with the killings of Black Americans like Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, those most affected by these tragedies have built pathways to open up new spaces for collective memory and mourning. Young Black Americans are engaging in protest and public rage not for the white gaze, but for themselves. As such, this political moment offers us a different vision, one in which those most excluded from history are the history-makers. This global effort toward mass memory-making presents both a theoretical and chronological disjuncture that bends us further toward a future where all Black people are free.

The Representation of the Rhodesian Security Forces in the Propaganda of ZANU and ZAPU, 1965–1980

This article considers in detail the ways in which ZANU and ZAPU sought to present the Rhodesian Security Forces in their propaganda during the UDI period. The Rhodesian Bush War was fought as much in the arena of public opinion as it was on the battlefield, a fact not lost on the guerrilla forces, who sought to delegitimize the RSF in a variety of ways. It argues that ZANU and ZAPU had to balance a range of factors when depicting the RSF, and used propaganda for multiple ends during the conflict.

Interstate hostility and maritime crime: Evidence from South East Asia

Maritime Asia remains crucial to global economic growth and prosperity. Nearly 40% of the world's seaborne trade transits the South China Sea each year, and nine of the top ten busiest container ports in the world are located in the Indo-Pacific region. But uncertainties also pervade the region as governments struggle to combat numerous security challenges while violent non-state actors and trans-border criminal groups continue to exploit the environment. In this study, we examine the nexus between maritime crime and inter-state security, centering on the tactical decision-making of non-state criminal actors. To avoid capture, maritime criminals locate their illicit activities near sea-boundaries where rival states aim to avoid regime confrontations that could escalate to more costly disputes. Pirates, smugglers, and illegal fishers can use these contested border zones as sanctuaries similar to guerilla forces fleeing across land boundaries to avoid pitched battles with regime military units. Using an original geocoded dataset on maritime piracy (MPELD), we find significant support for our hypothesis that conflict among states substantively influences the location of maritime crime. Our study has important implications for global efforts to counter transnational criminal organizations and their illicit activities in maritime spaces defined by territorial quarrels.