My current research examines the changing nature of warfare in the Middle East today, particularly the American transition to counterinsurgency doctrine in Iraq and Afghanistan, the similarities between recent\u00a0Israeli and American warfighting strategies and techniques,\u00a0the rise of networked forms of organization and war-fighting and the\u00a0evolution of “asymmetrical” tactics such as suicide bombings and car-bombings. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The New Landscape of War in the Middle East:\u00a0 Israel, America and Asymmetric War <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n I am working on a book project based on a series of articles I have written over the past few years that have investigated new practices, techniques and strategies of war-fighting in the Middle East.\u00a0 This project traces the emergence of a new paradigm of asymmetric war-fighting that is being used by both Israel and the United States\u00a0 and the rise of novel insurgent asymmetric strategies and tactics.\u00a0 This research focuses on developments derived from the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) paradigm of high-tech network-centric warfare, some elements from classical counterinsurgency doctrine, and new techniques of biopower and spatial incarceration.\u00a0\u00a0The project also\u00a0examines the evolution of insurgent tactics, techniques and strategies that have developed in conjunction and in response, such as car-bombs, suicide bombings, IEDs and tunneling, as well as network-centric modes of organizing.\u00a0 Case studies include:\u00a0 American Special Forces operations undertaken by JSOC (Joint Special Operation Command); American Drone Warfare; Israel’s Separation Barrier and American wall-building in Iraq after 2007; the Israel-Hezbollah war of 2006; Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip in 2009, 2012 and 2014; the rise of Female Suicide Bombings in the Middle East and beyond; and other topics.<\/p>\n Israel’s Occupation, Military Violence and Palestinian Suicide Bombings <\/strong><\/p>\n I have been writing a book on the history and strategy of Palestinian suicide bombings and their relationship to Israeli military violence.\u00a0 While suicide bombings are often portrayed as individual and random acts of fanaticism or desperation, leading to an excessive focus on the “mind of the suicide bomber,” current research on suicide bombings shows that they are actually highly organized and patterned and frequently the product of a deliberate strategy by militant groups to both inflict costs on Israel and to mobilize popular support for their organizations.<\/p>\n Recent Conference Participation<\/strong><\/p>\n Steve presented a paper at the Wars Beyond Wars<\/strong>\u00a0workshop hosted by the Peace and Conflict Studies Program at Colgate University in late March 2012 on new forms of American special operations\u00a0warfare that will be published as part of the workshop proceedings and in an edited volume.<\/p>\n Steve participated in the \u201cShifting Borders:\u00a0 American and the Middle East\u201d conference held at The American University in Beirut in 2012, and presented his current research project on American special operations\u00a0warfare entitled \u201cDisappearing Warfare:\u00a0 JSOC and the Dark Arts of the New American Counterinsurgency.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Steve participated in the annual Middle East Studies Association (MESA) conference in Fall, 2011 in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n Recent Publications<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Book Reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n Shadow Authority:\u00a0 A Review of Surveillance and Control in Israel\/Palestine: Population, Territory, and Power<\/em> by by Elia Zureik; David Lyon; Yasmeen Abu-Laban in Journal of Palestine Studies<\/em>, Vol. 41, no. 1, Autumn 2011.<\/p>\n Review of:\u00a0 Zeev Maoz, Defending the Holy Land:\u00a0 A Critical Analysis of Israel’s Security and Foreign Policy<\/em>.\u00a0 Journal of Palestine Studies, Jan 2008, Vol. 37, No. 2: 110-111.<\/p>\n Review of:\u00a0 Peter Ezra Weinberger, Co-opting the PLO: A Critical Reconstruction of the Oslo Accords. <\/em>Journal of Palestine Studies, Apr 2007, Vol. 36, No. 3: 102-104.<\/p>\n Review of Beyond Peace:\u00a0 The Search for Security in the Middle East by Robert Bowker, Middle East Studies Association Bulletin (1998).<\/p>\n Review of After Colonialism:\u00a0 Imperial Histories and Postcolonial Displacements, ed., Gyan Prakash, Millennium:\u00a0 Journal of International Studies, vol. 25, no. 2, Summer.<\/p>\n Recent Articles<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe ISIS Shock Doctrine<\/a>,\u201d The Immanent Frame<\/u>, SSRC: Religion and Public Sphere, February 20, 2015.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMan-hunting in Africa,\u201d Middle East Report<\/u>, Blog, Nov. 18, 2013.<\/p>\n \u201cDisappearing Violence: JSOC and the Pentagon\u2019s New Cartography of Networked Warfare<\/a>,\u201d Security Dialogue<\/u>, 2013, Vol. 44, No. 3.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael\u2019s \u2018Operation Mow the Lawn\u2019,\u201d Middle East Report<\/u>, Blog. December 7, 2012.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Matrix Comes to Libya,\u201d Middle East Report<\/u>, Blog, November 2, 2012.<\/p>\n “Drawing the Wrong Lessons From Israel’s 2006 War in Lebanon<\/a>,” in Middle East Report<\/em>, Summer 2010.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Laboratory of the Extreme:\u00a0 Spatial Warfare and the New Geography of Israel’s Occupation,<\/a>” in Logos:\u00a0 A Journal of Modern Society and Culture<\/em>,\u00a02010, Vol. 9, Issue 1.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n “Why suicide bombers are back in Iraq<\/a>,” Asia<\/em> Times<\/em> (on-line), May 7, 2009.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n “Martyrdom’s Strategy:\u00a0 Iraq’s Suicide Bombers Target Obama’s Withdrawal Strategy<\/strong>,” Foreign Policy in Focus<\/em>, May 5, 2009.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Losing Hearts and Minds:\u00a0 Israel’s Futile Way of War<\/a>,” Seattle Times<\/em>, January 16, 2009.\u00a0<\/p>\n “War of Choice:\u00a0 How Israel Manufactured the Gaza Escalation<\/strong>,” Foreign Policy in Focus<\/em>, January 7, 2009.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Walling Off Iraq:\u00a0 Israel’s Imprint on U.S. Counterinsurgency Doctrine,” Middle East Policy<\/em>, Volume XV, Fall 2008, Number 3.<\/p>\n “Behind the Surge in Iraqi Women Suicide Bombers<\/strong>,” Foreign Policy in Focus<\/em>, August 11, 2008.\u00a0<\/p>\n “The New Walls of Baghdad:\u00a0 How the U.S. is Reproducing Israel’s Flawed Occupation Strategies in Iraq<\/strong>,” Foreign Policy in Focus,<\/em> April 21, 2008.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n