Presaging the Future

On June 24, 2024, the Hellenic Canadian Congress of BC and the SNF Centre for Hellenic Studies at Simon Fraser University joined together for Greek Heritage Month to present a new talk by Assistant Professor James Horncastle, Edward and Emily McWhinney Professor in International Relations.

ABSTRACT

EOKA and its insurrectionary campaign between 1955 and 1959 provide critical insight into contemporary irregular warfare and its dynamics. Guerrilla warfare, which was previously a rural phenomenon, is increasingly situated in towns and cities. Unfortunately, most of the knowledge that we possess about urban guerrilla warfare campaigns is from American experience in Iraq. What academics need for an increased understanding of the phenomenon are examples outside this domain. EOKA’s successful urban warfare campaign demonstrates that the all-or-nothing guerrilla urban warfare approach, despite its increased prominence, has issues. While EOKA’s attacks in Nicosia helped sway international opinion against the British, simultaneously, the only way that it succeeded was by having operations in the countryside. EOKA thus demonstrates that rather than there being an artificial divide between urban and rural insurgencies, we need to take a more holistic approach to its analysis.