A CIA veteran describes the reasons for what he considers to be the United States' failure as a protective guardian to the world.

Includes index.

Communist Rural insurgency: from National Liberation to People's War and Beyond -- Prefigurations: Counterinsurgency in the Philippines and Malaya -- The Kennedy Crucible -- Vietnam and strategic hamlets -- People's counterinsurgency -- Thailand: The Effort to learn by experience -- Revival of Counterinsurgency: Vietnam, 1963-1967 -- CORDs in Charge: Vietnam, 1967-1972 -- Denouments.