Although over six years have passed since the Lebanon intervention ended, American leaders appear to be no closer to an appreciation of what went wrong than they were in 1984. Ralph Hallenbeck's authoritative account of the American intervention in Lebanon fills this significant void. His study goes a long way toward explicating those factors that contributed most to this foreign policy failure. America's role in Lebanon is examined in four chapters, with each chapter recounting the events that occurred during the successive phases of the intervention. At various junctures in the analysis, Hallenbeck compares his findings to those of other authors writing about the Vietnam War, an intervention that he feels strongly parallels the American experience in Lebanon. He also refers to the relevant body of politico-military and decision-making theory. The author's ultimate purpose in using this comparative approach is to suggest that conclusions derived from the study of the Lebanon intervention may be relevant both to an understanding of the past and to future attempts to achieve limited ends through the measured application of military force. Hallenbeck's case study is useful as both source material for students and scholars concerned with examining national security policy-making and as a critical discussion of recent events.

This work provides a theoretical and historical examination of the relationship between provision of military assistance and success in achieving donor aims. Eight case studies, which include the American Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and the Vietnam War, are examined to assess four prominent features of the donor-recipient relationship: the convergence of donor and recipient aims; donor control; commitment of donor military forces; and coherence of donor policies and strategies. As an essential part of the expanding body of multidisciplinary international scholarship, this book links history and theory to policy and narrows the gap between economics, political science, and military strategy. Each chapter refines the relevant features of the observed donor-recipient relationships into a pattern for comparison with other episodes. The final chapter collects the observations, compares them, and develops a set of uniformities that suggest a prototypical, successful donor-recipient relationship, suitable for direct application as a policy paradigm or for theoretical investigation. Mott suggests that both donor and recipient governments can use military assistance as a deliberate instrument of national policy and military strategy to achieve national aims.