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"Freedom Is not Won with Flowers:" An Operational Analysis of the U.S. Occupations of Cuba (1906), Haiti (1915), and Nicaragua (1927)

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Overview

Year:
2023
Contributor:
McMahon, Leo D (creator)
Kinzer, Stephen (thesis advisor)
Jost, Tyler (reader)
Brown University. International Relations (sponsor)
Genre:
theses
Subject:
Insurgency
Nicaragua
Cuba
Haiti
Counterinsurgency
Decapitation
Military leadership
Language:
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.26300/85cf-tm83

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Abstract:
Why have great powers sometimes been able to occupy weaker countries and at other times, using similar tactics, lost to a few poorly armed insurgents? Most scholarly theories of counterinsurgency propose best practices against insurgencies inspired by Maoist protracted warfare theory. But the wide variation in outcomes among cases in which counterinsurgents followed these best practices suggests that insurgent organization and strategy exert equal influence on victory and defeat as counterinsurgency strategy. I argue that for insurgent movements with low levels of bureaucracy, leaders’ autonomy and the difficulty of replacing them make leadership – rather than civilians or fighters – the insurgents’ center of gravity. I propose a model of leadership decapitation in which only those insurgencies whose leaders are highly motivated to fight and are able to evade capture or assassination will win their campaigns. This model is based on detailed case studies of the U.S. occupations of Cuba (1906), Haiti (1915), and Nicaragua (1927), which current theories of counterinsurgency theory do not fully explain. This research contributes to a more accurate understanding of the outcomes of these interventions and of the variety of forms insurgencies can take.
Notes:
Senior thesis (AB)--Brown University, 2023
Concentration: International and Public Affairs

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Citation

McMahon, Leo D., "'Freedom Is not Won with Flowers:' An Operational Analysis of the U.S. Occupations of Cuba (1906), Haiti (1915), and Nicaragua (1927)" (2023). International and Public Affairs Theses and Dissertations, The Watson School of International and Public Affairs Theses and Dissertations. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://doi.org/10.26300/85cf-tm83

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