The Salvadoran Crucible: The Failure of U.S. Counterinsurgency

The Salvadoran Crucible: The Failure of U.S. Counterinsurgency in El Salvador, 1979-1992 (Modern War Studies)

In 1979, with El Salvador growing ever more unstable and ripe for revolution, the United States undertook a counterinsurgency intervention that over the following decade would become Washington's largest nation-building effort since Vietnam. In 2003, policymakers looked to this â€œsuccessfulâ€ undertaking as a model for US intervention in Iraq. In fact, Brian Dâ€™Haeseleer argues in The Salvadoran Crucible, the US counterinsurgency in El Salvador produced no more than a stalemate, and in the process inflicted tremendous suffering on Salvadorans for a limited amount of foreign policy gains. Dâ€™Haeseleerâ€™s book is a deeply informed, dispassionate account of how the Salvadoran venture took shape, what it actually accomplished, and what lessons it holds.

A historical analysis of the origins of US counterinsurgency policy provides context for understanding how precedents informed US intervention in El Salvador. What follows is a detailed, in-depth view of how the counterinsurgency unfoldedâ€”the nature, logic, and effectiveness of the policies, initiatives, and operations promoted by American strategists. Dâ€™Haeseleerâ€™s account disputes the â€œsuccessâ€ narrative by showing that El Salvadorâ€™s achievements, mainly the spread of democracy, occurred as a result not of the American intervention but of the insurgentsâ€™ war against the state. Most significantly, The Salvadoran Crucible contends that the reforms enacted during the war failed to address the underlying causes of the conflict, which today continue to reverberate in El Salvador. The book thus suggests a reassessment of the history of American counterinsurgency, and a course-correction for the future.
Country USA
Brand University Press of Kansas
Manufacturer University Press of Kansas
Binding Hardcover
ReleaseDate 2017-12-15
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780700625123

Country	USA
Brand	University Press of Kansas
Manufacturer	University Press of Kansas
Binding	Hardcover
ReleaseDate	2017-12-15
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780700625123

The Salvadoran Crucible: The Failure of U.S. Counterinsurgency in El Salvador, 1979-1992 (Modern War Studies)

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