Paths To Victory

This companion volume to Paths to Victory: Lessons from Modern Insurgencies offers in-depth case studies of 41 insurgencies since World War II. Each case breaks the conflict into phases and examines the trajectory that led to the outcome.

When a country is threatened by an insurgency, what efforts give its government the best chance of prevailing? Contemporary discourse on this subject is voluminous and often contentious. Advice for the counterinsurgent is often based on little more than common sense, a general understanding of history, or a handful of detailed examples, instead of a solid, systematically collected body of historical evidence. A 2010 RAND study challenged this trend with rigorous analyses of all 30 insurgencies that started and ended between 1978 and 2008. This update to that original study expanded the data set, adding 41 new cases and comparing all 71 insurgencies begun and completed worldwide since World War II. With many more cases to compare, the study was able to more rigorously test the previous findings and address critical questions that the earlier study could not. For example, it could examine the approaches that led counterinsurgency forces to prevail when an external actor was involved in the conflict. It was also able to address questions about timing and duration, such as which factors affect the duration of insurgencies and the durability of the resulting peace, as well as how long historical counterinsurgency forces had to engage in effective practices before they won.

When a country is threatened by an insurgency, what efforts give its government the best chance of prevailing? Contemporary discourse on this subject is voluminous and often contentious. Advice for the counterinsurgent is often based on little more than common sense, a general understanding of history, or a handful of detailed examples, instead of a solid, systematically collected body of historical evidence. A 2010 RAND study challenged this trend with rigorous analyses of all 30 insurgencies that started and ended between 1978 and 2008. This update to that original study expanded the data set, adding 41 new cases and comparing all 71 insurgencies begun and completed worldwide since World War II. With many more cases to compare, the study was able to more rigorously test the previous findings and address critical questions that the earlier study could not. For example, it could examine the approaches that led counterinsurgency forces to prevail when an external actor was involved in the conflict. It was also able to address questions about timing and duration, such as which factors affect the duration of insurgencies and the durability of the resulting peace, as well as how long historical counterinsurgency forces had to engage in effective practices before they won.

Life is a journey, and most people with the brightest lives began theirs on the darkest paths. Even though many tread uncertain paths, only a few who secure divine help can complete their journey. I don't know where you are on the road to victory, on the path to success, and the grand adventures of life's ups and downs. I have found that there's no mountain too high, valley too low, or destination too far for divine help--the help that I've enjoyed up until now. God is intentional in everything he does. Therefore I invite you on a journey through one of the darkest paths of my life. On my journey, I encountered peaks that caused me to stumble, valleys I had to fall on my knees and crawl through, mountains that God had to carry me over, and even rivers that tried to drown me. For it required the loss of so-called friends, relatives, and even my youngest child. But even after suffering great loss, there is tremendous victory. In truth, it is a path that could only be traveled by one--a narrow and uncertain terrain; a journey I am yet to complete. But as you tag along on this adventure, I have a question: Would you trust God even when you can't trace him? Do you even know what it means?

Going somewhere? We are all going somewhere on the road of life. There are many broad paths that lead to nowhere. Most end up in a place called "death", "Hell", and the "devil". But there is also one narrow path that leads to "eternal life", "Heaven", and "God". This path is the "Road to Victory". Once we travel down this road, we need a guide that will get us to our destination. And that's what this book, The Road to Victory, is about: How to overcome spiritual warfare and receive blessings in Christ. His main author website is www.andynakagawa.com

Overturning the myth of the Mediterranean Theatre as a sideshow to the massive land war in Europe, a history of World War II explores the important military movements within this region that made it the pivotal struggle in the war.