The New Battlefield

One of the most controversial aspects of United States foreign policy centers about its response to unconventional conflict--that is, revolutions, counterrevolutions, and terrorism--in and from a number of Third World countries. Examining the current U.S. political-military posture, this critical study assesses the challenges posed to open systems by these conflicts and proposes guidelines for creating a more effective U.S. response. The author first explores the nature of unconventional conflicts, then turns to the U.S. response to the challenges unconditional conflicts present. Urging the need for a new realism based on a more accurate picture of present political conditions and U.S. interests, he concludes with a series of suggested guidelines for designing U.S. policy, strategy, doctrine and organizational strategies as a means of developing a more viable approach to the challenges of contemporary military and political conflict.

SAM C. SARKESIAN is Professor of Political Science at Loyola University of Chicago. He is the author of The New Battlefield: The United States and Unconventional Conflicts (Greenwood Press, 1986) and co-author (with Robert A. Vitas) of U.S. National Security Policy and Strategy: Documents and Policy Proposals (Greenwood Press, 1989).