Resistance Resurgent: Resurrecting a Method of Irregular Warfare in Great Power Competition

ABSTRACT

The U.S. has spent the last two decades, during its short time as the singular superpower, engaging relatively successfully in counterterrorism. However, we have now entered a new era of Great Power Competition (GPC) with adversaries; Russia and China. In the last decade, these nations have either caught up to the U.S. or have gained a slight edge in several types of warfare, while they challenge the international order created and dominated by the U.S. In particular, Russian threats loom over our NATO Baltic allies, while Chinese threats loom over the South China Sea and Taiwan. The U.S. has inadequate conventional deterrence forces ing each of these theaters and likely could not respond to crisis in each area simultaneously. Concurrently, though not allied, Russia and China have increased cooperation. It will take many years for the U.S. to build adequate conventional forces to prevent each of these adversaries from asserting their will and taking and holding the sovereign territory of our allies or partners. Yet history reveals a type pf warfare for which we and our allies and partners can prepare for immediately at little cost to add a layer of deterrence to assist in denying ultimate victory to our adversaries with scarce dedication of resources. It is a type of warfare that can asymmetrically impose costs on an occupier by forcing him to devote substantial resources to his own security while also making his political consolidation of the occupied territory very difficult if not impossible. Its methods range from violence led by an authorized organization fighting to reclaim sovereignty, to passive and peaceful activities by the general population. This method of warfare, which must be organized, trained and equipped immediately, is resistance.

KEYWORDS:

• Resistance
• Great Power Competition
• special operations forces

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The British return of Hong Kong (Hong Kong island, Kowloon Peninsula, and the New Territories) to China was under the terms of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration was functioned as treaty between the two states. In 1987, Portugal and China agreed to terms on the return of Macau in the Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau, also known as the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration, or formally known as the Joint Declaration of the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Portuguese Republic.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Otto C. Fiala

Otto C. Fiala Ph.D., J.D. is a research associate at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland, and is also employed by Lukos LLC., as a task lead and editor, contracted to the Department of Defense. Immediately prior, he was a Resistance and Resilience planner at Special Operations Command – Europe (SOCEUR), where he was also the chief editor and an author of the Resistance Operating Concept (ROC). He is also a retired USAR Civil Affairs Colonel.