Asymmetric Conflict: When The Weak Attack The Strong and Succeed

Catalog description

Why is it that the weak challenge the strong and sometimes manage to succeed? In fact, between 1800-2003, nearly 30 percent of all international conflicts waged against more powerful adversaries, the weaker party came out victorious. And the weaker actors have achieved more victories over time. Asymmetric conflict or competition between a weak and a strong adversary is all around us. From North Korea to Iran defying the Unites States and risking military confrontation through nuclear tests and drone shootings, the weak it seems defy the basic expectation that possession of material power is an all-time guarantee of security. This course examines why the weak rise against the strong, how they manage to succeed, and in what capacity. We focus on unconventional, conventional, and hybrid tactics of the weak and the implications for U.S. strategy development. We rely on cases of international conflicts and insurgencies to derive insights about the theory of asymmetric conflict onset and termination and to predict future trends in the struggle between the weak and the strong.