Jacob Hagstrom, "Asymmetric Warfare: Politics and Cultures of Violence in the Modern Era" (Cambridge UP, 2025)
About this episode
Jacob Hagstrom discusses his book on asymmetric warfare and the evolving nature of conflicts in the modern era.
Asymmetric Warfare: Politics and Cultures of Violence in the Modern Era (Cambridge University Press, 2025). The forces that fight asymmetric wars are so distinct that one side avoids direct military confrontation in favor of political, social, or otherwise unorthodox means of resistance. These conflicts have been a mainstay of modern times, though scholars have often separated them into various designations by era. Observers have referred, in chronological order, to Indian warfare, petite guerre (small war), guerrilla warfare, irregular or revolutionary war, and terrorism. The proliferation of labels over time has obscured the continuity of asymmetric wars throughout modernity. Stark distinctions in resources and capabilities have shaped the reasons why states and societies have decided to fight, and the manner in which they have fought. Across the modern era, mismatches arose in the domains of technology, intelligence production, and law. But in recent decades, so-called weak powers have neutralized many of the typical advantages of strong military states. Jacob Hagstrom is an army veteran and historian. He earned a PhD in history from Indiana University, Bloomington, and taught…
People in this episode
Host: Marshall Poe
Guest: Jacob Hagstrom
Topics covered
- asymmetric warfare
- politics of violence
- cultures of conflict
- modern military history
- guerrilla warfare
- terrorism
Keywords
- asymmetric warfare
- politics
- violence
- modern era
- guerrilla warfare
- terrorism
- military history
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Cambridge University Press
Places: Indiana University, Bloomington, Citadel, Military College of South Carolina, Manchester Metropolitan University
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