A Tale of Two Army Doctrines: Which Way Forward?

Abstract

This paper examines two strategies for fighting limited wars and attempts to illustrate how the context of the conflict and the ethos of the United States should fashion an appropriate strategy. The two strategies juxtaposed in this paper are Peace Operations and Counterinsurgency. Although similar in application at the tactical level of war, these two strategies vary widely at the strategic and operational level of war and impact significantly on the legitimacy of the intervening parties, international support, and the host government. Through an examination of American history, values, and biases this study concludes that a strategy of peace operations is more effective at delivering a lasting stability and eventual peace than counterinsurgency operations. Peace operations allow for legitimate self-determination and a lasting peaceful resolution of the underlying cause of the conflict.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 09, 2011
Accession Number
ADA547253

Entities

People

  • Keith A. Barclay

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Asymmetric Warfare
  • Civil War
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Counterinsurgency
  • Doctrine
  • Education
  • Globalization
  • Governments
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Organizations
  • Iraqi-War
  • National Security
  • Treaties
  • Unconventional Warfare
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • History
  • Sociology

Readers

  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.
  • Strategic Security Studies