CWD Research Seminar: Professor Thomas Mockaitis (De Paul University), 'War at the Crossroads: Britain in South Arabia, 1963-1967'

Event Details

From 1963-1967, the United Kingdom waged the last of its colonial counterinsurgency campaigns in South Arabia, a federation of Aden Colony and a federated protectorate of sheikdoms in its hinterland (now part of Yemen) ...

CWD Research Seminar: Professor Thomas R. Mockaitis (De Paul University), 'War at the Crossroads: Britain in South Arabia, 1963-1967'

Tuesday 17 October, 17.15-18.30. Bowland Main B104.

From 1963-1967, the United Kingdom waged the last of its colonial counterinsurgency campaigns in South Arabia, a federation of Aden Colony and a federated protectorate of sheikdoms in its hinterland (now part of Yemen). The conflict was in every sense of the term a war at the crossroads. Geographically, the territory guarded access to the Red Sea and the southern entrance to the Suez Canal. Aden was a major oil bunkering station and a base for projecting British military power into the Middle East, Africa, and the Indian Ocean. The war also occurred at an historical crossroads, the period in Britain’s history following the Suez crisis and before the grant of independence to its remaining colonies. Situated between the successful Malayan Emergency and the Troubles in Northern Ireland, South Arabia has received little scholarly attention, leaving several important questions about the conflict without satisfactory answers. Why in an era of economic decline and decolonization did Britian need a base at Aden? How could London have expected to control South Arabia in the face of Arab nationalism? Why did British counterinsurgency, which had succeeded so well in Malaya and would succeed again in Oman, fail so strikingly in South Arabia? Why after spending billions on military facilities did London withdraw? Most analysts focus on the change of government and the economic situation. However, the fiscal crisis that impelled Labour to cut defense spending and abandon Aden was clearly looming in 1963, when the insurgency began, and the Tories were still in power. The Wilson government took more than year to announce its abandonment of South Arabia and a further year to leave. Tension between economic realism and domestic politics on the one hand, and reluctance to accept loss of great-power status on the other drove decision making in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The continued prevalence of insurgency in the contemporary world makes study of this pivotal war worthwhile.

Thomas R. Mockaitis is Professor of History at DePaul University. As a subject matter expert for the Institute for Strategic Governance he has lectured on terrorism and insurgency at venues around the world. Professor Mockaitis was the 2004 Eisenhower Chair at the Royal Military Academy of the Netherlands. He has lectured at the NATO School (Germany), Marshall Center (Germany), the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and the Canadian Forces Staff College, and presented papers at the Pearson Peacekeeping Center (Canada), the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (UK), and the Austrian National Defense Academy.

Dr. Mockaitis is the author of numerous books and articles, including Violent Extremists: Understanding the Domestic and International Terrorist Threat, Conventional and Unconventional War: A History of Conflict in the Modern World; The COIN Conundrum, Soldiers of Misfortune?; Avoiding the Slippery Slope: Mounting Interventions, Iraq and the Challenge of; The “New” Terrorism: Myths and Reality; Peacekeeping and Intrastate Conflict: the Sword or the Olive Branch?; British Counterinsurgency in the Post-Imperial Era; and British Counterinsurgency: 1919-1960, which was awarded the 1990 Templer Medal by the Society for Army Historical Research. Dr. Mockaitis earned his B.A. in European history from Allegheny College, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in modern British and Irish history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A frequent media commentator on terrorism and security matters, Dr. Mockaitis has appeared on local, national and international news programs. He is a regular opinion contributor to The Hill.

Accessibility

This seminar is located on Floor B of Bowland Main. This is the first floor, where the Department of History is housed. Full information on accessibility for Bowland Main can be found on the AccessAble website.