Fighting for Ireland? : The Military Strategy of the Irish Republican Movement

This text presents an account of the evolution of Irish Republican strategy.

It is topical in the light of the faltering peace process and the growing speculation over the IRA's next move: further violence or a new non-violent strategy?

This updated paperback edition should be useful reading for those who wish to disentangle the complex issues and motives behind IRA violence.

M.L.R. Smith challenges many assumptions about the IRA, pinpointing the organization's successes as well as its missed opportunities.

He demonstrates the tension the movement has experienced between ideology and strategic reality regarding the use of force, illustrating how doctrinal purity has sometimes hampered the IRA in the pursuit of its goals.

Contrary to the Irish Republican movement's vigorous and assertive public face Smith uncovers an organization characterized more by a sense of chronic insecurity than by certainty and continuity.