Mobile Warfare for Africa: On the Successful Conduct of Wars in Africa and Beyond - Lessons Learned from the South African Border War

Presenting a remarkable amount of experience drawing primarily from South Africa’s Border War in the form of case studies, supported fully by an extensive number of photographs and specially commissioned maps, this study has applications for historians, researchers, and contemporary military practice.

This is an easy-to-read book with many real-life case-studies and examples which presents a yardstick for the enhancement of contemporary combat practices. In this context, the Namibian-Angolan-South African Border War serves as one of the principal benchmark studies. It was an armed struggle which typically evolved into a transnational conflict over time and which brought about all the imaginable political, diplomatic, military and social ramifications and complexities of African warfare. More so, this war included low as well as high intensity engagements across the full spectrum of warfare, playing out within a vast geographical expanse over an extended period – all elements holding valuable lessons to be learned from.

The book therefore provides a knowledge resource for enrichment of the intrinsic know-how of commanders and young leaders for the successful conduct of warfare in Africa and similar battlefield environments. In this regard the pages contain a wealth of hands-on military concepts to be used for the conduct of conventional, unconventional or peace support operations or the more integrated form thereof.

It is also significant to realize that southern Africa served as a leading laboratory for counterinsurgency warfare at the time of the South African Border War, from which much can be learned by military practitioners, historians and scholars worldwide.

Many valuable lessons can be learned from the African way of warfare and what is referred to today as ‘4th Generation’ and/or asymmetric warfare, besides providing insights as to how this will influence future military needs and requirements, for instance the development of forces and the incorporation and employment of advanced technology.