Low Intensity Conflict In The Third World

A common thread ties together the five case studies of this book: the persistence with which the bilateral relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union continues to dominate American foreign and regional policies. These essays analyze the LIC environment in Central Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa.

The study of low-intensity conflict (LIC) has been beset by problems of definition. This manuscript represents five studies by members of the Political-Military Affairs Division of the Air Force. Each study views the persistence with the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. These studies analyze LIC environments in Central Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa. For each region, history, politics, economics, and ideological currents are emphasized so as to illustrate best the wide variety of LIC phenomena that affect the societies under scrutiny. A final study puts into the perspective of a long-term strategy the implications each contribution draws for U.S. policies. Air University Press. United States Air Force.

The end of the cold war does not necessarily mean the end of the social and political instability that can lead to low-intensity conflicts. This book provides fresh insights into a difficult subject by bringing together knowledgeable contributors who have the academic expertise, operational experience, and strategic perspective essential to underst

The United States must improve its ability to cope with low-intensity conflict. We must become a great deal better at fighting this kind of war. We may learn quickly, in which case we will be able to cope with low-intensity conflict in the near-term; or we may learn slowly, in which case we will suffer years of frustration. Low-intensity warfare represents an arena of conflict for today and for tomorrow. There can be little doubt that it poses important problems for American interests and policy. And yet, because of the confusion that surrounds the understanding of low-intensity conflict, the United States has been ill-prepared to face its consequences. This book is a serious effort to make thinking about low-intensity conflict more understandable and, thus, more accessible to those who would form our national response to this pressing issue. It counsels the reader that low-intensity conflict appears in the guise of proxy warfare, religious extremism, ethnic and racial rivalries, and on the heels of failed developmental projects. All these events threaten our friends, our allies, and ourselves. The Soviet Union and its proxies have come to the conclusion that the global system is vulnerable to low-intensity conflict. We can therefore expect more of it. Only when the United States has developed a flexible capacity to deal with its root causes around the world can we better secure our own interests and suppress Soviet efforts in this domain. The present volume takes a significant step toward framing the context in which a creative set of policies for low-intensity conflict can evolve. We all have a need to better understand this new, disturbing, and growing phenomenon. With that need in mind, we highly recommend it. Contents * FOREWORD * PREFACE * LOW-INTENSITY CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST * Dr. Lewis B. Ware * The Khomeinist Revolution * The Attempted Coup in Bahrain * The Lebanese Imbroglio * Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood * Islamism in Tunisia * Conclusion * Notes * SOVIET RUSSIA AND LOW-INTENSITY CONFLICT IN CENTRAL ASIA: THREE CASE STUDIES * Dr. Stephen Blank * The Basmachi Insurgency * The Iran Invasions * The Afghanistan Invasion * Notes * FACTORS AFFECTING THE EMERGENCE OF LOW-INTENSITY CONFLICT IN LATIN AMERICA * Dr. Bynum E. Weathers * Nicaragua * Chile * Peru * Conclusion * Notes * LOW-INTENSITY CONFLICT IN SOUTHERN AFRICA * Dr. Thomas P. Ofcansky * Zimbabwe * Namibia * Angola * Mozambique * South Africa * Conclusion * Notes * LOW-INTENSITY CONFLICT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: CHALLENGES, RESPONSES, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE UNITED STATES * Dr. Lawrence E. Grinter * Indonesia * The Philippines * Indochina * Conclusion * Notes * US POLICY AND STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR LOW-INTENSITY CONFLICT * Jerome W. Klingaman * Formulating Strategy for Low-Intensity Conflict * The Problem of Definition * Explicit Language: The Fall from Grace * The Significance of Low-Intensity Conflict * Strategy Implications * Notes