To compete and thrive in the 21st century, democracies, and the United States in particular, must develop new national security and economic strategies that address the geopolitics of information. In the 20th century, market capitalist democracies geared infrastructure, energy, trade, and even social policy to protect and advance that era’s key source of power—manufacturing. In this century, democracies must better account for information geopolitics across all dimensions of domestic policy and national strategy.
Speaker: Alec Worsnop, Research Fellow, International Security Program
The speaker will demonstrate the importance of military training by drawing on archival documents and a rich historiography to comparatively trace the development of three separate elements of the Communist fighting force in Vietnam during the Second Indochina War (1961–1975): the forces of the North Vietnamese Regime, or the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), as well as two groups within the southern resistance of the People's Liberation Armed Front (PLAF, also known as the Việt Cộng or VC): Main Force units and Guerrilla Force units. While the Main Force and PAVN shared similar access to resources and weaponry and all three forces had shared ideological outlooks, parallel command structures, and like backgrounds, only PAVN which had routinized military training programs, was able to consistently employ force in a complex manner on the battlefield throughout the conflict.
Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.
For more information, email the International Security Program Assistant at susan_lynch@harvard.edu.