A Theoretical Exploration of Lawrence of Arabia's Inner Meanings on Guerrilla Warfare

Abstract

Lawrence's conception of the Arab East may not have come to what he envisaged, with Sykes-Picot looming in the foreground as he describes "we lived many lives in those whirling campaigns, never sparing ourselves: yet when we achieved and the new world dawned, the old men came out again and took our victory to re-make in the likeness of the former world they knew. Youth could win, but had not learned to keep: and was pitiably weak against age. We stammered that we had worked for a new heaven and a new earth, and they thanked us kindly and made their peace." His achievements and contributions as a modern guerrilla leader and political strategist of the emerging nations indelibly assured his place, perhaps not alongside Clausewitz, Jomini, or Mahan, but certainly in the annals of insurrectionary warfare. This warfare was to exemplify future desert guerrilla war such as the Libyan resistance movement of Omar Mukhtar or the Polisario incursions of Western Sahara. As this British warrior poet eloquently dreamt "the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible...This I did...I meant to make a new nation.."

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 05, 2011
Accession Number
ADA546376

Entities

People

  • Basil Aboul-enein
  • Youssef Aboul-enein

Organizations

  • Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Asymmetric Warfare
  • Economic Models
  • Governments
  • Guerrilla Warfare
  • History
  • Insurgency
  • International Relations
  • Materials
  • Military History
  • Military Intelligence
  • Naval Warfare
  • New York
  • Political Movements
  • Psychology
  • Red Sea
  • Terrorists
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • History

Readers

  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.