The military effectiveness of post-colonial states /

Barua (history, Univ. of Nebraska, Kearney) provides a detailed, readable account of four wars in the developing world: the 1967 Nigerian Civil War, the 1973 Arab-Israeli War (which Barua refers to as the Ramadan War), the 1983 Falklands War (Malvinas for Barua); and the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War. Barua's goal is to look for patterns in the military performance of these postcolonial states. He provides a blow-by-blow account of the main military operations, supplemented by insightful discussions of weapons and technology, military structure and training, and some analysis of relations between civil and military leaders. Barua does not find any consistent trends across the four cases. The Indian military was well trained with an effective officer corps, while the Nigerian military were poorly trained and led. Argentina had a well-equipped military, but they could not operationally maintain the two submarines that could have driven off the Royal Navy. Resupply from external allies (or the absence thereof) was a crucial factor in each conflict. Barua's account shows that warfare is a complicated and risky, and that militaries vary hugely in their capacity to wage it effectively. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers; upper-division undergraduates and above. P. Rutland Wesleyan University