- 08 Dec 2021
[Book Discussion] Three Dangerous Men: Russia, China, Iran and the Rise of Irregular Warfare
(This event is organised by MEI Political Economy research cluster.)
Abstract
The book examines how three key figures in Moscow, Beijing and Tehran, built irregular warfare campaigns that are eroding American power. Conventional warfare—clashes between large military forces—defined 20th century power. However, today, facing dominant US conventional and nuclear capabilities, America’s principal adversaries (Russia, China and Iran) have adopted a different style of competition. Ranging from cyberattacks, covert action and proxy conflicts to information and disinformation campaigns, espionage and economic coercion—these are the tools of irregular warfare which will increasingly re-shape international politics. In short, the future of warfare is likely to be closer to the Chinese general Sun Tzu than to Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz.
This public talk will be conducted online via Zoom on Wednesday, 8 December 2021, from 8.00 pm to 9.30 pm (SGT). All are welcome to participate. This event is free, however, registration is compulsory. Successful registrants will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom details closer to the date of the event.
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About the Speakers
Senior Vice President, Harold Brown Chair and Director
International Security Program, and Transnational Threats Project
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
[Moderator] Dr Alessandro Arduino Principal Research Fellow
Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore (NUS)
Dr Seth G. Jones is Senior Vice President, Harold Brown Chair and Director of the International Security Programme, and Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He leads a bipartisan team of over 50 resident staff and an extensive network of non-resident affiliates dedicated to providing independent strategic insights and policy solutions that shape national security. He also teaches at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and the Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) at the US Naval Postgraduate School.
Prior to joining CSIS, Dr Jones was the director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the RAND Corporation. He also served as representative for the commander, US Special Operations Command, to the assistant secretary of defence for special operations. Before that, he was a plans officer and adviser to the commanding general, US Special Operations Forces, in Afghanistan (Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command–Afghanistan). In 2014, he served on a congressionally mandated panel that reviewed the FBI’s implementation of counterterrorism recommendations contained in the 9/11 Commission Report. Dr Jones specialises in irregular warfare, counterterrorism and covert action.
He is the author of Three Dangerous Men: Russia, Iran, China and the Rise of Irregular Warfare (W.W. Norton, 2021); A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA, and the Cold War Struggle in Poland (W.W. Norton, 2018), Waging Insurgent Warfare (Oxford University Press, 2016), Hunting in the Shadows: The Pursuit of al Qa’ida after 9/11 (W.W. Norton, 2012), and In the Graveyard of Empires: America’s War in Afghanistan (W.W. Norton, 2009). Dr Jones has published articles in various journals such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy and International Security, as well as newspapers and magazines like The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. Dr Jones is a graduate of Bowdoin College and received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.
[Moderator] Dr Alessandro Arduino is the Principal Research Fellow at the Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore (MEI-NUS). He is the Co-director of the Security & Crisis Management International Centre at the Shanghai Academy of Social Science and an Associate at Lau China Institute, King’s College London.
His 20 years of experience in China encompasses security analysis and crisis management. His main research interests include China, Central Asia and Middle East and North Africa relations, sovereign wealth funds, private military/security companies and China’s security and foreign policy.
Dr Arduino is the author of several books and he has published papers and commentaries in various journals in Italian, English and Chinese. His most recent book is China’s Private Army: Protecting the New Silk Road (Palgrave, 2018) and has been appointed Knight of Order of the Star of Italy by the president of the Italian Republic.
