From People's War to People's Rule: Insurgency, Intervention, and the Lessons of Vietnam

by Timothy J. Lomperis

Overview

Timothy Lomperis persuasively argues the ironic point that the lessons of American involvement in Vietnam are not to be found in any analysis of the war by itself. Rather, he proposes a comparison of the Vietnam experience with seven other cases of Western intervention in communist insurgencies during the Cold War era: China, Indochina, Greece, the Philippines, Malaya, Cambodia, and Laos.

Lomperis maintains that popular insurgencies are manifestations of crises in political legitimacy, which occur as a result of the societal stresses caused by modernization. Therefore, he argues, any intervention in a 'people's war' will succeed or fail depending on how it affects this crisis. The unifying theme in the cases Lomperis discusses is the power of land reform and electoral democracy to cement political legitimacy and therefore deflect revolutionary movements. Applying this theory to the ongoing Sendero Luminoso insurgency in Peru, Lomperis makes a qualified prediction of that conflict's outcome. He concludes that a global trend toward democratization has produced a new era of 'people's rule.'

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807863046
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	11/09/2000
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	456
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Timothy J. Lomperis is professor and chair of the department of political science at Saint Louis University.

Table of Contents

Contents

Preface

Part I. Theory and Context
Introduction. From Ghost to Lesson
Chapter 1. On the Business of Lessons
Chapter 2. Legitimacy, Insurgency, and the International Context of the Vietnam War
Chapter 3. Analytical Framework of Legitimacy, Insurgency, and Intervention

Part II. Vietnam, the Deviant Case
Chapter 4. Historical Setting: The Earthly Struggle for Heaven's Mandate
Chapter 5. Framework Analysis: The War without a Lesson?

Part III. The Comparative Prism
Chapter 6. China, 1920-1949: The Long March to Liberation
Chapter 7. Greece, 1941-1949: Three Rounds to Albania
Chapter 8. The Philippines, 1946-1956: Liberation Deflected
Chapter 9. Malaya, 1948-1960: The Unmaking of an Insurgency
Chapter 10. Cambodia's "Autogenocide" and the Disappearance of Laos, 1949-1975

Part IV. Lessons
Chapter 11. Findings from the Prism and an Application: Sendero Luminoso of Peru
Conclusion. The New Era: Wilson's Triumph over Lenin

Appendix 1. Literatures of the Framework
Appendix 2. A Tale of Two Strategies: An Alternative Explanation
Appendix 3. Assumptions, Thematic Questions, and Propositions

Notes
Index

Tables

1.1. Insurgencies and Intervention
3.1. Domestic Legitimacy
11.1. Comparative Legitimacy
11.2. Comparative Intervention
11.3. Alternative Explanation: Leadership/Strategy (L/S)
11.4. Candidate Lessons

Figures

1.1. Balance of Intervention in Vietnam I: Franco-Viet Minh War, 1946-1954
1.2. Balance of Intervention in Vietnam II: American Phase, 1960-1975
1.3. Balance of Intervention in China, 1927-1949
1.4. Balance of Intervention in Greece, 1941-1949
1.5. Balance of Intervention in the Philippines, 1946-1956
1.6. Balance of Intervention in Malaya, 1948-1960
1.7. Balance of Intervention in Cambodia, 1970-1975
1.8. Balance of Intervention in Laos, 1955-1975
3.1. Transition from Traditional to Modern Society
3.2. External Legitimacy Effects
3.3. Insurgency: Exogenous and Independent Variables
11.1. Benchmarks of Insurgent Success: Vietnam I
11.2. Benchmarks of Insurgent Success: Vietnam II
11.3. Benchmarks of Insurgent Success: China
11.4. Benchmarks of Insurgent Success: Greece
11.5. Benchmarks of Insurgent Success: Philippines
11.6. Benchmarks of Insurgent Success: Malaya
11.7. Benchmarks of Insurgent Success: Cambodia
11.8. Benchmarks of Insurgent Success: Laos
11.9. Benchmarks of Insurgent Success: Prognosis on Peru

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

An impressive examination of insurgencies as manifestations of crises in political legitimacy stemming from the societal stresses caused by modernization. . . . . A highly insightful look at the Vietnam War in comparison to seven other cases of Western direct and indirect intervention against Cold War communist insurgencies: China, Indochina, Greece, the Philippines, Malaya, Cambodia, and Laos.—Parameters



Recommended reading. . . . An uncommon collection of ideas about contemporary revolution that ought to be taken into account in designing further research.—American Political Science Review



By focusing on the centrally important but greatly neglected issue of legitimacy, Timothy Lomperis has thrown new light on the dynamics of insurgency and has made a major contribution to our understanding of the reasons for the successes and failures of communist peasant movements. This study is social science at its best, combining penetrating theoretical analysis, exhaustive empirical research, and relevant implications for policy.—Samuel P. Huntington, Harvard University



A deeply insightful, completely absorbing, and much-needed comparative study of revolutions, based on real cases and drawing some highly important lessons for the future.—Paul M. Kattenburg, University of South Carolina

Editorial Reviews

In his third work on the Vietnam War (after The War Everyone LostAnd Won, LJ 1/84, and Reading the Wind, Duke Univ., 1986), Lomperis, a former army intelligence officer in Vietnam and currently an instructor in political science at West Point, places the war within the broader context of Communist insurgency against Western-supported regimes throughout the Cold War. Lomperis examines and compares the Chinese liberation struggle; civil wars in Greece, Cambodia, and Laos; rebellion in the Philippines; and the carnage in Peru so that the sophisticated reader can see the similarities and differences among these conflicts and the pivotal roles played by insurgents, local governments, and foreign powers. Each insurrection is well documented with conclusions buttressed by Lomperis's obvious expertise in his field. Marred only by a tendency to lapse into technical jargon, his work belongs in academic libraries, but only public libraries with strong Vietnam collections should consider adding a scholarly work such as this.John R. Vallely, Siena Coll. Lib., Loudonville, N.Y.

Library Journal

A highly insightful look at the Vietnam War in comparison to seven other cases [of Western intervention] .

"Parameters"

A deeply insightful, completely absorbing, and much-needed comparative study of revolutions, based on real cases.

Paul M. Kattenburg, University of South Carolina

This study is social science at its best, combining penetrating theoretical analysis, exhaustive empirical research, and relevant implications for policy.

Samuel P. Huntington, Harvard University

"This study is social science at its best, combining penetrating theoretical analysis, exhaustive empirical research, and relevant implications for policy.

Samuel P. Huntington, Harvard University"

An uncommon collection of ideas about contemporary revolution that ought to be taken into account in designing further research.

"American Political Science Review"

From the Publisher