• DOI:10.2307/j.ctt1d98c8k.8
• Corpus ID: 37227709

Theory and Practice

@article{Ubell2021TheoryAP,
  title={Theory and Practice},
  author={Robert Ubell},
  journal={Staying Online},
  year={2021}
}

• Robert Ubell
• Published 9 July 2021
• Political Science
• Staying Online

Created in 1958, the Center fosters advanced study of basic world problems by scholars from various disciplines and senior officers from many countries. The research at the Center, focusing on the processes of change, includes studies of military-political issues, the modernizing processes in developing countries, and the evolving position of Europe. Foreward The spectrum of force affecting international politics has greatly broadened since World War II. At one end, the capacity to destroy has been enormously expanded by nuclear weapons and missiles. At the other, insurgency has given new significance to low levels of violence in anti-colonial struggles and Communist subversive wars. Both extensions have underscored the political dimensions of force in international politics. The Center for International Affairs has been concerned since its inception with the evolving role of force. The impact of nuclear weapons has been a continuing interest of Thomas C. Schelling, Henry A. Kissinger, and others at the Center. Morton Halperin has been concerned with the analysis of limited war. The present volume complements those studies by dealing with violence at the lower end of the scale. In it, Mr. Galula focuses on the strategy for combating insurgency. In writing on this subject, he can draw on an unusual range of experience. Born in Tunisia in 1919 (the son of a French citizen), he spent most of his boyhood in Casablanca and, after taking his baccalauréat there in 1938, chose a French Army career. The present book takes its special character from this rich background of the author and his unusual bent for rigorous analysis. His primary interest is to develop principles to guide a regime seeking to combat insurgency. In arriving at his precepts, Galula has drawn mainly on observations and reflections derived from experience in China, Greece, Southeast Asia, and Algeria. To highlight his precepts, he has chosen to confine examples and narrative to a minimum. Since insurgency seems likely to be a frequent occurrence in unstable new nations, however, there should be many opportunities to v vi Foreward test his models and principles under varied conditions. It is hoped that this study will advance understanding and stimulate analysis of the problems it discusses. Introduction The laws of war—this is a problem that anyone directing a war must study and solve. The laws of revolutionary war—this is a problem that anyone directing a revolutionary war must study and solve. The laws of China's revolutionary …