Weak and Winning: Asymmetric Campaigning as a Rational Choice

There is no shortage of people who disagree with the current state of world affairs and who are prepared to use violence to change them. Are they mindless fanatics, doomed to fail? Or do they have a clever plan with reasonable chance of success? This study looks at the problem of fighting an overwhelmingly stronger country from the perspective of someone aiming to change world affairs with deadly force if necessary. The study?s primary research question is whether it is possible to produce an asymmetric campaign concept sufficiently feasible to constitute a rational course of action against a much stronger opponent. Such a concept requires: first, analysis of the centers of gravity of the asymmetric actor and of the powerful country opposing him; second, a course of action that protects his own center of gravity while attacking that of the opponent; and finally, an assessment of the prerequisites and chances for success. Changes in the nature of immigration and politics caused by modern transportation and communication technologies have greatly altered the prerequisites and chances for success of campaign concepts that choose the space between human ears as the battlefield.