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Long Wars: Demonstrating the Corrosive Effects of Irregular Wars on Dominant States

Received: Nov. 21, 2017    Accepted: Dec. 04, 2017    Published: Jan. 02, 2018
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Abstract

Great powers overextend their security apparatus attempting to maintain an international system from which they benefit. Costly expenditures of internally mobilized hard power in irregular wars increases the the decline of relative power while externally mobilized power in the form of partisans may delay or defeat power transition. This paper examines the U. S. war in Vietnam and the Soviet war in Afghanistan in order to determine if long periods of irregular war had an effect on those state’s relative position in the internaitonal system. This paper will demonstrate that those wars eroded each position without the large, structural war predicted by normative IR theory.

DOI 10.11648/j.ss.20180701.17
Published in Social Sciences (Volume 7, Issue 1, February 2018)
Page(s) 43-54
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Internal Mobilization, External Mobilization, Power Transition, Irregular War, Dominant States

References
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  • Department of Political Science, University of Hawaii-Manoa, Honolulu, USA

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    Phil W. Reynolds. (2018). Long Wars: Demonstrating the Corrosive Effects of Irregular Wars on Dominant States. Social Sciences, 7(1), 43-54. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20180701.17

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    Phil W. Reynolds. Long Wars: Demonstrating the Corrosive Effects of Irregular Wars on Dominant States. Soc. Sci. 2018, 7(1), 43-54. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20180701.17

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    Phil W. Reynolds. Long Wars: Demonstrating the Corrosive Effects of Irregular Wars on Dominant States. Soc Sci. 2018;7(1):43-54. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20180701.17

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ss.20180701.17,
      author = {Phil W. Reynolds},
      title = {Long Wars: Demonstrating the Corrosive Effects of Irregular Wars on Dominant States},
      journal = {Social Sciences},
      volume = {7},
      number = {1},
      pages = {43-54},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20180701.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20180701.17},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20180701.17},
      abstract = {Great powers overextend their security apparatus attempting to maintain an international system from which they benefit. Costly expenditures of internally mobilized hard power in irregular wars increases the the decline of relative power while externally mobilized power in the form of partisans may delay or defeat power transition. This paper examines the U. S. war in Vietnam and the Soviet war in Afghanistan in order to determine if long periods of irregular war had an effect on those state’s relative position in the internaitonal system. This paper will demonstrate that those wars eroded each position without the large, structural war predicted by normative IR theory.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

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    AB  - Great powers overextend their security apparatus attempting to maintain an international system from which they benefit. Costly expenditures of internally mobilized hard power in irregular wars increases the the decline of relative power while externally mobilized power in the form of partisans may delay or defeat power transition. This paper examines the U. S. war in Vietnam and the Soviet war in Afghanistan in order to determine if long periods of irregular war had an effect on those state’s relative position in the internaitonal system. This paper will demonstrate that those wars eroded each position without the large, structural war predicted by normative IR theory.
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