Why Allies Rebel

Defiant Local Partners in Counterinsurgency Wars

Barbara Elias

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781108490108
• eBook ISBN:
  9781108787819
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: International Relations
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Why do powerful intervening militaries have such difficulty managing comparatively weak local partners in counterinsurgency wars? Set within the context of costly, large-scale military interventions such as the US war in Afghanistan, this book explains the conditions by which local allies comply with (or defy) the policy demands of larger security partners. Analysing nine large-scale post-colonial counterinsurgency interventions including Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Lebanon, Cambodia, and Angola, this book utilizes thousands of primary source documents to identify and examine over 450 policy requests proposed by intervening forces to local allies. By dissecting these problematic partnerships, this book exposes a critical political dynamic in military interventions. It will appeal to academics and policymakers addressing counterinsurgency issues in foreign policy, security studies and political science.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Why Local Allies Defy or Comply with Requests from Intervening Allies
• 3 Methodology: Wars, Documents, and Data
• 4 The USA in Iraq
• 5 The USA in Afghanistan
• 6 The USA in Vietnam
• 7 India in Sri Lanka
• 8 The USSR in Afghanistan
• 9 When Small States Intervene
• 10 Conclusion
• Appendix A Comparing Requests across Wars
• Appendix B Information Regarding US Department of State Cables from the US Interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Appendix C Statistical Tables
• Bibliography
• Index