Modernization/Development Theory, CORDS, and FM 3-24?

[TheCurmudgeon]

I do not wish to recreate those feelings and I have no interest in playing intellectual "gotcha." I simply want to learn.

Don't worry about me ... I am just happy someone else is interested in the topic.

I also learned a lot since I was under the impression that the Vietnam era ideas and the current ones were the same. It actually makes more sense now looking at it from the perspective that Vietnam era Cold war fight was with communism (to which our response was capitalism and a version of Modernization that espoused it) where the current Afghani fight is with a fundamentalist theocracy (to which our response is secular democracy and a different version of modernization that supports it). All of it backed by a simplistic belief that everyone in the world MUST share our "modern" value set and are just waiting for Westerners to provide them the opportunity to "advance" beyond thier "traditional" ways to become just like us.