1st Edition
Confrontation, Strategy and War Termination Britain's Conflict with Indonesia
By Christopher Tuck
Copyright 2013
264 Pages
by
Routledge
264 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
At the heart of this book is the problem of war termination. Britain won an almost unbroken string of tactical military victories during an undeclared war against the Republic of Indonesia in the 1960s, yet it proved difficult to translate this into strategic success. Using conflict termination theories, this book argues that British strategy during Confrontation was both exemplary and flawed,... Read more
Contents: Introduction; Fighting Indonesia: British strategy and the emergence of confrontation; Theories of war termination; ’Bristling with difficulties’: British objectives; ’Soldiering on’: British options and assessment; British planning: the paradox of preparation; Britain’s war termination problem: the external dimension; Britain’s war termination problem: the internal dimension; Conclusions; Bibliography; Index.
Biography
Christopher Tuck, Defence Studies Department, King’s College London at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, Shrivenham, UK.
’This is an important book. It moves our study of Confrontation with Indonesia to the next level, insightfully combining thorough empirical research with clear-eyed theoretical analysis. Tuck presents a well-argued historical example of the difference between respectable strategic coping and aimless muddling through. He demonstrates why we should see British strategy towards Indonesia as both skillful and flawed, analyzing problems facing a middle power with much that resonates today.’ Brian P. Farrell, National University of Singapore, Singapore ’An academically rigorous but very accessible analysis that sheds vital new light on the nature of British success in its major campaign during the era of East of Suez.’ Eric Grove, University of Salford, UK
