The end of the cold war promised a new era of international peace. Instead, violence has proliferated across the globe. What does history tell us about how this conflict will play out? Noted military historian James R. Arnold delivers an engrossing narrative history of a century of counterinsurgent warfare. Analyzing past campaigns—the United States in the Philippines, the British in Malaya, the French in Algeria, and the United States in Vietnam—Arnold traces patterns of victory and defeat. Patience, determination, and adaptability are needed—an epilogue examines the occupation of Iraq, where America, to its cost, ignored the lessons of history. Jungle of Snakes is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the ongoing worldwide conflict the Pentagon calls the “Long War.”

A gripping history of a new kind of warfare, with sobering lessons for America’s future. The end of the cold war promised a new era of international peace. But instead, violence has proliferated across the globe, not in the form of a superpower arms race or a clash of armies, but in bitter local conflicts marked by terrorism, insurgency, and guerrilla warfare. Former Central Intelligence Agency director James Woolsey likened the post-cold-war world to “a jungle full of snakes.” The emergence of this new, potentially never-ending struggle has forced our military to reevaluate strategies or risk losing hearts, minds, and soldiers the world over. James Arnold delivers a gripping narrative of a century of counterinsurgent warfare, from the Philippine War to present-day Iraq, analyzing wars won and lost: the British in Malaya, the French in Algeria, and the United S tates in Vietnam. Arnold explains the tug-of-war for civilian support and illustrates the high stakes of any counterinsurgency effort. The epilogue examines the occupation of Iraq, where America, to its cost, ignored the lessons of previous conflicts. A veteran military historian, Arnold combines storytelling ability with strategic insight. Jungle of Snakes will be essential reading for those who want to understand the ongoing series of struggles that the Pentagon calls “the Long War.”