The Aftermath of Defeat: Societies, Armed Forces, and the Challenge of Recovery [Hardcover]

Dr. George Andreopoulos (Editor), Professor Harold E. Selesky (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 1994

When a country is defeated in war, not only are the policies, strategies and goals of the military affected, but those of society are as well. In this book experts in military history examine conflicts ranging from the American Revolution to the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973 and to China's invasion of Vietnam in 1979 to show how the trauma of defeat also affects the evolution of society. The authors argue that recovery from defeat must be assessed on the level of grand strategy, that ultimate responsibility for recovery rests on the capacity of a nation's top political and military leaders to use their society's resources in order to master the challenges confronting them. Sometimes a nation can rebound from defeat simply by reforming or reorganizing the military services and the branches of government involved in military decisions. At other times military defeat can have a greater impact on society, leading to the consolidation of the status quo, the disruption of the traditional social order, or increased civilian control over the military. In any case, the leadership's viability often hinges on its ability to detect the inevitable pressures for reform that follow military defeat and to harness them accordingly.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 1St Edition edition (September 28, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300058535
• ISBN-13: 978-0300058536
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,294,207 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars a reasonable study of defeat, September 9, 2003

By 

BernardZ (Melbourne, vic Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Aftermath of Defeat: Societies, Armed Forces, and the Challenge of Recovery (Hardcover)

In history defeat often gives people a chance to rebuild their society. Once the society accepts defeat, it is able to address the problems that caused the defeat and then rebuild itself.

In this book, the defeats are not overwelming, in the sense that in all cases the old society elite remained in power after the defeat firmly in control. So they were able to make changes. This should as such be better called a study of limited defeats.