Chomsky on Anarchism.pdf - Zine Library
Chomsky on Anarchism.pdf - Zine Library
Chomsky on Anarchism.pdf - Zine Library
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OBJECTIVITY AND LIBERAL SCHOLARSHIP<br />
30<br />
rer in a recem book.32 Wolf c<strong>on</strong>siders (WO "theoretical models" for analyzing<br />
insurgency problems. The first is the approach of the heartsand-minds school<br />
of coumerinsurgency, which emphasizes (he importance of popular support.<br />
Wolf agrees that it is no doubt "a desirable goal" to win "popular allegiance to<br />
a governmem that is combating an insurgent movemenr," but this objective,<br />
he argues, is nO( appropriate "as a c<strong>on</strong>cepmal framework fo r counterinsurgency<br />
programs." His alternative approach has as its "unifying theme" the c<strong>on</strong>cept of<br />
"influencing behavior, rather than attitudes." Thus, "c<strong>on</strong>fiscati<strong>on</strong> of chickens,<br />
razing of houses, or destructi<strong>on</strong> of villages have a place in counterinsurgency<br />
efforts. but <strong>on</strong>ly if they are d<strong>on</strong>e for a str<strong>on</strong>g reas<strong>on</strong>: namely, to penalize those<br />
who have assisted the insurgenrs ... whatever harshness is meted out by government<br />
forces [must be] unambiguously recognizable as deliberately imposed<br />
because of behavior by the populati<strong>on</strong> that c<strong>on</strong>tributes to the insurgent movement."<br />
Furthermore, it must be noted that "policies that would increase rural<br />
income by raising fo od prices, or projects that would increase agricultural productivity<br />
through distribmi<strong>on</strong> of fe rtilizer or livesrock, may be of negative<br />
value during an insurgency ... since they may actually facilitate guerrilla operati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
by increasing the availabili ty of inputs that the guerrillas need." More<br />
generally: "In setting up ec<strong>on</strong>omic and social improvement programs, the crucial<br />
point is to c<strong>on</strong>nect such programs with the kind of populati<strong>on</strong> behavior<br />
the government wants ro promote." The principle is to reward the villages that<br />
cooperate and to provide penalties for the behavior that the government is uying<br />
ro discourage. ''At a broad, c<strong>on</strong>cepmal level, the main c<strong>on</strong>cern of counterinsurgency<br />
efforts should be to influence the behavior of the populati<strong>on</strong><br />
rather than their loyalties and attitudes"; "the primary c<strong>on</strong>siderati<strong>on</strong> should be<br />
whether the proposed measure is likely (Q increase the cost and difficulties of<br />
insurgent operati<strong>on</strong>s and help to disrupt the insurgent organizati<strong>on</strong>, rather<br />
than whether it wins popular loyalty and SUppOH, or whether it c<strong>on</strong>tributes to<br />
a more productive, efficient, or equitable use of resources."<br />
Other scholars have elaborated <strong>on</strong> the advantages of Wolf's "alternative<br />
approach," which c<strong>on</strong>cerns itself with c<strong>on</strong>trol of behavior rather than the mystique<br />
of popular support. For example, Mort<strong>on</strong> H. Halperin, of the Harvard<br />
Center for Internati<strong>on</strong>al Affairs, writes that in Vietnam, the United States "has<br />
been able to prevent any large-scale Vietc<strong>on</strong>g victories, regardless of the loyalties<br />
of the people." Thus we have an empirical dem<strong>on</strong>suati<strong>on</strong> of a certain principle<br />
of behavioral science, as Halperin notes:<br />
The events in Vietnam also illustrate the faCt that most people<br />
tend to be motivated, not by abstract appeals, but rather by their<br />
percepti<strong>on</strong> of the course of acti<strong>on</strong> that is most likely to lead to<br />
their own pers<strong>on</strong>al security and to the satisfacti<strong>on</strong> of their ec<strong>on</strong>omic,<br />
social, and psychological desires. Thus, for example,<br />
large-scale American bombing in South Vietnam may have<br />
antag<strong>on</strong>ized a number of people; bur at the same time it demoll-