ABSTRACT
The present journal has done more than any other publication of the recent past to define the parameters of ‘small wars’, ‘insurgencies’, and counter-insurgency. This has been very valuable, not least because there are few areas of strategic studies where the semantics are so complex and the terminology used so diverse, conflicting, overlapping, or else vague and confusing. Much ink has been spilled on what constitutes asymmetric warfare, low-intensity conflict, operations other than war, or the differences between counter-insurgency and counter-guerrilla. ‘Exterior operations’ or ‘operations abroad’ are at best bureaucratically convenient catch-all terms. These are at best ’new wars’ in small technological aspects such as the use of mobile phones or cyberspace. It is to the credit of this journal that its editors have plumped for the classical terms ‘small wars and insurgencies’. But those, too, lend themselves to multiple interpretations. Some can best be explained by looking at the historical evolution of the use of these
terms. Their origins are largely forgotten, however, and their early use is often ignored. This special issue is dedicated to shedding light on the origins and diversity of these terms in their early usage until the early nineteenth century.
