Malaysia's Experience in War Against Communist Insurgency and Its Relevance to the Present Situation in Iraq

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the British Administration's and, later, the Malaysian Government's strategies in fighting the Malayan Communist Party (MCP). The British spent almost 12 years fighting the communist insurgency, and later the Malaysian Government needed another 29 years to bring the Malayan Communist Party to agree to lay down their arms. The Briggs Plan had a significant impact on the suppression of the communist insurgency at the initial stages. However, it is important to understand that the government's long-term strategy, which focused on security and development, is what finally defeated the insurgency movement in Malaysia. This paper focuses on the 41 years of Malaysian experiences and compares them with the situation in Iraq today. Even though the situation in Malaya was comparatively different in terms of the aims of the insurgents, the reasons for the insurgency, and the category of persons involved, one can learn from the dissimilarities between Malaya and Iraq to gain a better understanding of how war against insurgents should be fought.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2005
Accession Number
ADA505882

Entities

People

  • Nazar B. Talib

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Combat Areas
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Counterinsurgency
  • Governments
  • Insurgency
  • Intelligence Collection
  • Joint Military Activities
  • Labor Unions
  • Law
  • Malaysia
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Terrorists
  • United States
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Sociology

Readers

  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies