Date Thesis Awarded
5-2010
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
International Relations
Advisor
Debra Shushan
Committee Members
Brian W. Blouet
Kathrin Levitan
Abstract
In the twentieth century, weak actors used guerrilla warfare in attempts to expel much stronger foreign forces from their territory with mixed success. This often occurred in European colonial empires as subject peoples sought independence. In such insurgencies or small wars, seldom can weaker actors ever hope to militarily vanquish the strong's forces. The weaker power must instead convince the strong power to quit the fight, for until the strong power decides to withdraw its forces, the weak has not won. My question is what causes a strong power, faced with an insurgency in a distant territory, to throw in the towel, withdrawing its forces and making terms with the insurgents?
Recommended Citation
Doyle, Brian P., "Why Do the Strong Quit?: Causes of Counterinsurgent Withdrawal During Overseas Insurgencies" (2010). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 755.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/755
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Comments
Thesis is part of Honors ETD pilot project, 2008-2013. Migrated from Dspace in 2016.