Before engaging the enemy in the Third World, the advocates of low-intensity conflict must convince the Pentagon bureaucracy, civilian officials and other government agencies of their case. They must win over key decision-makers — both political and military — in the security establishments of their foreign allies. And, increasingly, they must complement this internal debate and diplomacy with a full-scale effort to rally the U.S. public behind the policy.
Low-intensity conflict is also radical, however, in the comprehensiveness of its approach. It draws on a wide-ranging study of the different elements of conflict, few of which are strictly military. Researchers at think tanks and universities attempt to analyze and mimic the politico-military structures of revolutionary movements; others study the “backwards” tactics of guerrilla warfare, which invert traditional military rules of engagement, or delve into anthropology and social psychology;
others still, like Britain’s Brig. Gen. Frank Kitson, dwell on the British and French
