Victorious Insurgencies

The author of Resisting Rebellion examines four of the twentieth century’s most consequential rebellions—in China, Cuba, Afghanistan, and French Indochina. While insurgencies continue to erupt across the globe, most of them fail to meet their intended aims. But in Four Rebellions that Shaped Our World, Anthony James Joes analyzes four successful rebellions which permanently altered the global political arena: the Maoists in China against Chiang Kai-shek and the Japanese in the 1930s and 1940s; the Viet Minh in French Indochina from 1945 to 1954; Castro's followers against Batista in Cuba from 1956 to 1959; and the mujahideen in Soviet Afghanistan from 1980 to 1989. Joes illuminates patterns of failed counterinsurgencies, highlighting their avoidable political and military blunders as well as the critical influence of the international setting. Offering provocative insights that are applicable to twenty-first century geopolitics, this comprehensive study will be of great interest to policy-makers and concerned citizens alike.