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SUMMARY:Uncivil War: The British Army and the Troubles\, 1966–1975 (Dr H
 uw Bennett) - Dr Huw Bennett (Cardiff University)
DTSTART:20240226T170000Z
DTEND:20240226T183000Z
UID:TALK211618@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:119986
DESCRIPTION:When Operation Banner was launched in 1969 civil war threatene
 d to break out in Northern Ireland and spread over the Irish Sea. Uncivil 
 War reveals the full story of how the British army acted to save Great Bri
 tain from disaster during the most violent phase of the Troubles but\, in 
 so doing\, condemned the people of Northern Ireland to protracted\, grindi
 ng conflict. Huw Bennett shows how the army's ambivalent response to loyal
 ist violence undermined the prospects for peace and heightened Catholic di
 strust in the state. British strategy consistently underestimated communit
 y defence as a reason for people joining or supporting the IRA whilst seni
 or commanders allowed the army to turn in on itself\, hardening soldiers t
 o the suffering of ordinary people. By 1975 military strategists considere
 d the conflict unresolvable: the army could not convince Catholics or Prot
 estants that it was there to protect them and settled instead for an unend
 ing war.\n\nSpeaker biography:\nHuw Bennett is Reader in International Rel
 ations at Cardiff University\, where he teaches intelligence and strategic
  studies.  He was educated at the University of Wales\, Aberystwyth and pr
 eviously taught at Aberystwyth and for King's College London at the Joint 
 Services Command and Staff College.  He is the author of Fighting the Mau 
 Mau: The British Army and Counter-Insurgency in the Kenya Emergency (Cambr
 idge University Press\, 2012)\, and articles and chapters on Malaya\, Keny
 a\, Aden\, Northern Ireland\, Iraq and Afghanistan\, with an emphasis on c
 ivil-military relations and the impact of war on civilians.  Uncivil War: 
 The British Army and the Troubles\, 1966-1975\, was published by Cambridge
  in October 2023 and was written with the aid of fellowships from the Leve
 rhulme Trust and the British Academy.
LOCATION:Erasmus Room\, Pump Court\, Queens' College
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