[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-38265-en":3,"doc-seo-38265-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},38265,7971461741311,"Ophelia","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/74000253aff267980c6?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1779345379180704826",8,"Research & Report","Why Big Nations Lose Small Wars","Historical analysis of imperial expansion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries shows that Third-World resistance, when present, was often crushed with rapid efficiency under conventional military assumptions. Post–World War II conflicts challenged this belief: in Indochina, Indonesia, Algeria, Cyprus, Aden, Morocco, and Tunisia, nationalist forces achieved political objectives despite inferior conventional capabilities. The paper develops a “pre-theoretical” perspective emphasizing how external powers are compelled to withdraw.","oomlod tom hips/emerioopce sotomeanq lany o21in2019a12162z stblatohecmidcoretemeoftse enlblearthnesremerdoogcretems  \nhttps//do.org/10.2307/2009880  \n# WHY BIG NATIONS LOSE SMALL WARS:THE POLITICS OF ASYMMETRICCONFLICT\n\nBy ANDREW MACK*  \nAcursory examination of the history of imperialist expansion inthe late nineteenth and early twentieth century reveals one thingvery clearly:Third-World resistance,where it existed,was crushedwith speedy efficiency.In terms of conventional military thinking suchsuccesses were not unexpected.Indeed,together with the Allied experi-ence in the first and second World Wars,they served to reinforce andto rigidify the pervasive notion that superiority in military capability(conventionally defined)will mean victory in war.However,the his-tory of a number of conflicts in the period following World War IIshowed that military and technological superiority may be a highlyunreliable guide to the outcome of wars.In Indochina(I946-54),Indonesia(I947-49),Algeria,Cyprus,Aden,Morocco,and Tunisia,local nationalist forces gained their objectives in armed confrontationswith industrial powers which possessed an overwhelming superiorityin conventional military capability.These wars were not exclusively acolonial phenomenon,as was demonstrated by the failure of theUnited States to defeat its opponents in Vietnam.  \nFor some idea of the degree to which the outcome of these warspresents a radical break with the past,it is instructive to examine thecase of Indochina.The French successfully subjugated the peoples ofIndochina for more than sixty years with a locally based army onlyfifteen thousand strong.The situation changed dramatically afterI946,when the Vietnamese took up arms in guerrilla struggle.ByI954 the nationalist forces of the Vietminh had forced the French—who by this time had deployed an expeditionary force of nearly twohundred thousand men—to concede defeat and withdraw their forcesin ignominy.Within twenty years,a vast U.S.military machine withan expeditionary force five hundred thousand strong had also beenforced to withdraw.  \nThe purpose of this paper is to attempt to provide a “pre-theoretical  \n*Research for this article was supported by the British Social Science ResearchCouncil.An ongoing project examining a number of case histories of “asymmetricconflicts”is currently being supported by the Rockefeller Foundation.  \nolod fom hieps/emtioopce sotom merio lany on21i 2019a121620 stbiatothe cmrideoreeme ftue enlible rthtnscameroegcreems  \nhttps://doi.org/10.2307/2009880  \nWORLD POLITICS  \nperspective”within which the outcome of such “asymmetric con-ficts”may be explained.In the field of conflict research,the study ofthe outcome and the conduct of wars,as against that of their etiology,has received remarkably little attention.¹The outcome of “asymmetricconflicts”as described in this paper has been almost totally neglected.²  \nArguably,it is easier to explain why the insurgents were not de-feated than it is to explain the related but more interesting question—namely,how and why the external power was forced to withdraw.Since the former problem has been the subject of intense investigationboth by specialists in counter-insurgency and strategists of guerrillawarfare,the greater part of this paper will deal with the latter problem.However,a few fairly obvious points need to be made before going on.  \nIn analyzing the successes of the British at Omdurman against theSudanese and the Italians in their war against local insurgents inAbyssinia,Mao Tse-tung has noted that defeat is the invariable out-come where native forces fight with inferior weapons against mod-ernized forces on the latter's terms.Katzenbach writes in this context:\"By and large,it would seem that what made the machinery of Euro-pean troops so successful was that native troops saw fit to die,withglory,with honor,en masse,and in vain.”Second,it should be notedthat in general this type of war met with little domestic opposition;success only served","cbCaifU5fA2OGaNZ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifU5fA2OGaNZ","pdf",1861261,4,1,26,"English","en",105,"# WHY BIG NATIONS LOSE SMALL WARS: THE POLITICS OF ASYMMETRIC CONFLICT\n## THE POLITICS OF ASYMMETRIC CONFLICT","[{\"question\":\"Which historical period and imperial context does the paper use to frame its argument?\",\"answer\":\"It examines imperialist expansion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, followed by conflicts after World War II that contradicted conventional expectations.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the paper argue that conventional military and technological superiority can fail?\",\"answer\":\"It shows that in several postwar conflicts local nationalist forces gained objectives against industrial powers, forcing withdrawal even when conventional capability was overwhelming.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the paper propose as its main analytical focus for explaining outcomes of asymmetric conflicts?\",\"answer\":\"Rather than only explaining why insurgents avoid defeat, it concentrates on how and why the external power is compelled to withdraw, using a “pre-theoretical” perspective.\"}]",1783059103,66,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":28},"why-big-nations-lose-small-wars","",{"@graph":36,"@context":85},[37,53,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/why-big-nations-lose-small-wars/38265/",{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-10","2026-07-03",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"Which historical period and imperial context does the paper use to frame its argument?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"It examines imperialist expansion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, followed by conflicts after World War II that contradicted conventional expectations.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"Why does the paper argue that conventional military and technological superiority can fail?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"It shows that in several postwar conflicts local nationalist forces gained objectives against industrial powers, forcing withdrawal even when conventional capability was overwhelming.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"What does the paper propose as its main analytical focus for explaining outcomes of asymmetric conflicts?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"Rather than only explaining why insurgents avoid defeat, it concentrates on how and why the external power is compelled to withdraw, using a “pre-theoretical” 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