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External Assistance: Enabler of Insurgent Success
Title: External Assistance: Enabler of Insurgent Success
Date: August 2006
Author: Jeffery Record
Bibliographic Entry: Record, Jeffery. “External Assistance: Enabler of Insurgent Success.” Parameters. August 2006. http://usgcoin.org/library/articles/JeffreyRecord-Aug2006.pdf (Accessed December 12, 2007).
Electronic Link: http://usgcoin.org/library/articles/JeffreyRecord-Aug2006.pdf
Key Words: insurgency, counterinsurgency, foreign assistance, state sponsorship,
Summary of Key Points, Issues, Conclusions:
Jeffery Record notes that most explanations of successful insurgencies share the common assumption that the weak side’s possession of political will and strategy offsets the stronger side’s material superiority. However, he asserts that even the most committed and cunning insurgency needs arms, medical supplies, and other material resources and that the combination of stronger political will, superior strategy, and foreign aid decide successful insurgencies.
Record describes a variety of insurgencies, the Viet Cong in Vietnam, the American Revolution, the American Civil War, the Chinese Revolution, and the Algerian War and looks at the importance in both of material supply by external actors. Record notes that “the correlation between external assistance and insurgent victory … is striking.” However, this relation does not diminish the insurgent requirement for superiority in intangibles: will, strategy, morale, and discipline.
Name of Researcher: Katie Stout
Institution: Integrative Center for Homeland Security, Texas A&M University
Date Posted: December 14, 2007