“Out of the Mountains” book discussion with David Kilcullen, New America Foundation, DC

Over the past 12 years, the NATO campaign in Afghanistan has been primarily defined by the guerrilla nature of the war and the challenges it has posed to more conventional military forces. But irregular warfare is not limited to Afghanistan or even to South Asia. In his latest book, Out of the Mountains: The Coming Age of the Urban Guerrilla, renowned counterinsurgency strategist Dr. David Kilcullen analyzes conflicts in cities like Benghazi, Libya; Kingston, Jamaica; and Mumbai, India to explain the evolving face of warfare.

Scrutinizing major environmental trends — population growth, coastal urbanization, and increasing digital connectivity — he projects a future of feral cities, urban systems under stress, and increasing overlaps between crime and war, internal and external threats, and the real and virtual worlds. Researching transnational drug networks, local street gangs, and the uprisings of the Arab Spring, he emphasizes that dealing with these conflicts will require greater local insight and expertise outside the military realm — from the fields of urban planning, systems engineering, alternative energy technology, conflict resolution, and mediation.

The New America Foundation is pleased to welcome Dr. Kilcullen for a discussion on Out of the Mountains and how countries can diffuse these social conflicts when they arise.