an idea without a vehicle is nothing
Tequila, very true, Mao had to occupy a physical space as does UBL. What I was looking at is that the actual space is not important, he could set up in the south or the north, so long as he could live.
I'm going to extemporize a bit here, because I'm not clear as to what the answer is. When I read about Lettow-Vorbeck I asked myself how could he survive, how could he keep his men together against the overwhelming odds. Also I was looking at Lawrence and comparing his actions to Lettow, both took small forces and targeted the enemies bases and lines of communication, in this case railroads and supply dumps, physical in nature. The destruction of these caused reaction in great disproportion to the efforts expended by both Lawerence and Lettow. Further the Turks and Brits could not gain the same reaction from Lawerence or Lettow, respectively, by doing the same thing. The loss of physical bases hurt them but did not demoralize them to the point of giving in. They fought on, perhaps it is the underdog mentality?
In the American Revolution the British took Manhatten and Philadelphia, it was a crushing blow, in a European war at the time it would have been all over. Yet Washington retires to Valley Forge then crosses the Deleware and wins a stunning small victory and suddenly the cause is reborn.
Also in the American Revolution, when the Indian raids got out of hand on the frontier. Washington sent General Sullivan to destroy the Iroquis Nation. He ran straight into their base and burned it down, they never recovered. Yet as goesh points out the native american resistance lasted a long time beyond that, ever pushing their bases further west until they ran out of physical space in which to allow their ideology/way of life to exist.
What I am seeing is that an insurgent unlike the counter-insurgent can move his physical base freely to any location where his ideaology base can exist without direct attack from the government. From this base he can strike in small groups at will destroying fixed bases of the government.
I think of Che at this point, in Bolivia, he was unable to develop the physical base to allow himself the freedom of action, eventually being pinned and killed.
How would this twin bases -physical and ideological- concept equate to trans-nationals or to local insurgents? What are the weaknesses?
Military Review: Center-of-Gravity Analysis Articles
Military Review, Sep-Oct 07: Linking Doctrine to Action: A New COIN Center-of-Gravity Analysis
Quote:
Just as there is no one weapon that guarantees superiority in conventional warfare, there is no silver bullet when it comes to counterinsurgency (COIN) operations. Field Manual 3-24, Counterinsurgency, provides a firm doctrinal foundation, as corroborated in Battle Command Knowledge System chat rooms, training at the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Center and the Taji Counterinsurgency Center for Excellence, and field experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even so, there is still a gap between doctrine and tactical results in COIN warfare. This article seeks to fill that gap by introducing what we believe is a useful planning tool: the COIN center of gravity (COG) analysis, integrated as the culminating step of COIN intelligence preparation of the battlefield (IPB). COIN COG analysis translates theory into practice from the bottom up, exposing insurgent lines of operation (LOOs) and suggesting possible counters to them. Rather than thrusting objectives from the top down that may or may not apply to a given situation, it balances counterinsurgent efforts and provides metrics. Links between COIN IPB and the root causes of a conflict, and between COIN COG analysis and tactical actions, are analyzed to figure out how to preempt insurgent activity instead of merely reacting to it. The process approaches COIN from the dual perspective of the nature of the population and the nature of the insurgent, not from the perspective of the counterinsurgent.....
Cog Discussion Crosses Boundaries
A QUICK SEARCH OF THE THREADS SHOWS THE COG HAS CROSSED INTO ALMOST EVERY DISCUSSION LINE IN THE SWC. JUST AS THE DISCUSSION OF COG HAS PERMEATED US MILITARY SCHOOL HOUSES.
Social Contagion theory ( 1 2 3 ... Last Page)
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Sticky: Tell Us About You #2... ( 1 2 3 ... Last Page)
SWCAdmin 13 Hours Ago
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U.S. Africa Command? ( 1 2 3 ... Last Page)
Tom Odom 1 Day Ago
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JD 2 Weeks Ago
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Good Anthropology, Bad History: The Cultural Turn in Studying War ( 1 2 3)
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Brian Gellman 07-12-2007
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Who Will Sound The Call to Service? ( 1 2)
SWJED 07-05-2007
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What is a Guerilla's Center of Gravity? ( 1 2 3 ... Last Page)
TROUFION 07-04-2007
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Do we require a victory or a Triumph? ( 1 2 3 ... Last Page)
Rob Thornton 06-28-2007
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Iran: Open Thread Until H-Hour... ( 1 2 3 ... Last Page)
SWJED 06-24-2007
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Iraq - the Modern Equivalent of the Spanish Civil War ( 1 2)
SWJED 06-20-2007
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A Thin Blue Line in the Sand ( 1 2 3 ... Last Page)
SWJED 06-18-2007
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Ralph Peters on Dreams & Islam
Rob Thornton 06-14-2007
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Kinetic vs Empathetic Warfare ( 1 2)
TROUFION 06-13-2007
by TROUFION 18 769 Social Sciences, Moral, and Religious
Googleing COIN in Iraq
Rob Thornton 06-07-2007
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Future Peer Competitor? ( 1 2 3 ... Last Page)
Granite_State 06-07-2007
by goesh 48 1,194 Global Issues & Threats
Strategic Directions in Iraq - and the idea of Cultural Identity as a CoG ( 1 2 3)
Rob Thornton 06-07-2007
by wm 21 568 US Policy, Interest, and Endgame
Theoretical Constructs
Martin 10-18-2006
by Martin 7 3 Social Sciences, Moral, and Religious