Success in Opposite Direction: Strategic Culture and the French Experience in Indochina, the Suez, and Algeria, 1945-1962

Abstract

Abstract : Decolonization after the Second World War provides many historical examples for the study and examination of the concept of strategic culture. Based upon similarities in strategic culture the United States military can benefit greatly from studying the downfall of the French empire. The US Army cannot underestimate the potential negative implications of an obstinate strategic culture and a lack of institutional learning and adaptability when confronted with changing strategic contexts. An examination of the French experience in Indochina, the Suez, and Algeria illustrates the impact of strategic culture on the conduct of military operations and conflict outcomes thereby better preparing the United States for future wars. The US Army can learn from these experiences by better understanding how the American culture interprets the world and how it affects other actors within the global system. The US Army with respect to strategic culture has an example which, as Bernard Fall noted, points the way for the future in the French experience in Indochina, the Suez, and Algeria from 1945-1962, that in Falls words is a signpost which reads, Success in Opposite Direction.