ABSTRACT
Improvised explosive devices, more commonly referred to as Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), have become synonymous with the 21st century wars the United States, and many other nations, find themselves embroiled in. This chapter explores the history of the IED, discusses the challenges and opportunities it presents on the modern battlefield, and explores a case study to demonstrate why the IED has come to define 21st-century warfare. The term “IED” dates back to at least the early 1970s in court proceedings against the Irish Republican Army as well as a 1975 book about the conflict in Palestine following World War I. The political and military conflicts of the 20th century, coupled with technological improvements in both the variety and number of commercial and military-grade explosives, meant that the use of IEDs, by states and non-state actors, became a common reality. Somalia, and specifically the militia group al-Shabaab, highlights the challenges presented by IEDs.
