Author Description

The formerly "restricted" 1940 publication examines the practical and philosophical aspects of "small wars" or low-intensity conflicts. Great book on military peacekeeping and counterinsurgency operations that was ahead of its time and still relevant today. Topics include strategy, psychology, dealings with foreign civilians, as well as implementation of a democratically-elected government. The manual opens defining small wars. 1-1. Small wars defined. The term Small War is often a vague name for any one of a great variety of military operations. As applied to the United States, small wars are operations undertaken under executive authority, wherein military force is combined with diplomatic pressure in the internal or external affairs of another state whose government is unstable, inadequate, or unsatisfactory for the preservation of life and of such interests us are determined by the foreign policy of our Nation. As herein used the term is understood in its most comprehensive sense, and all the successive steps taken in the development of a small war and the varying degrees of force applied under various situations are presented.