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The Third Option: An American View Of Counterinsurgency Operations
Describes the role of counterinsurgency and the flexible use of power as a technique the United States can utilize to control events throughout the world
- GenresHistory
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
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April 22, 2022
An important Cold War relic and still reliable primer for Counterinsurgency Operations
"The Third Option: An American View Of Counterinsurgency Operations," is an extended pamphlet handbook on counterinsurgency as a "third option" (the others being diplomacy and war) for the US to advance its foreign policy agenda in the era of Soviet support of guerilla movements. It was meant to be an assessment of the state of US counterinsurgency and intelligence doctrine circa 1981, after the author, Theodore Shackley, had left the CIA and was serving as a consultant for intelligence and defense matters. It also served as an overview of how to manage a counterinsurgency using historical examples from his era of service and moving forward including Vietnam, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Angola. It's a remarkable little book for those of us who remember the late 70s and the early 80s. It's only 144 pages, including an index and bibliography. Yet it not only captures the mood and the tone of period but also contains operational and policy recommendations that were implemented by the Reagan and Bush administrations. This book is so simple and has so many insights that I believe it is a worthy read for anyone familiar with later Cold War history (military and political) and policy. I believe the current crop of counterinsurgent warriors dealing mostly with Islamic movements would benefit from reading this book. Especially if they have a grasp of the background history. Meanwhile, older generations of Americans like myself who served in the military and intelligence communities in the 70s, 80s, and 90s would enjoy the book because we know so many of Shackley's good ideas (like the creation of a counter-terror unit like today's Delta Force) bore good fruit in the last 30 years.
Theodore Shackley was a CIA Director of Operations who was nicknamed "the Blonde Ghost" for his light colored hair and clandestine ways. His career in the government spanned the entire Cold War and placed him in key intelligence leadership positions at some of the most famous and infamous hot spots of that era. He started as a counterintelligence soldier in Europe at the end of WWII, was posted in Berlin in the fifties, was station Chief in Miami during the days of aggressive Anti-Castro operations against Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, he served in the secret war in Laos and then as Saigon station chief at the end of US involvement in 1972. He managed to evade the Congressional witch hunts of the 1970s ending his tenure as Associate Deputy Director for Operations under Bush until President Carter's CIA appointee, Admiral Turner, relieved him of his duties. It was a petulant move on the part of Turner and Carter. But Shackley moved on. He served as a consultant and frequent speaker at conservative forums. He was socially connected to some dubious characters of the 80s such as Ed Wilson of Libya fame and some of the planners of the Iran-Contra scandal but Shackley was never directly involved in any of those activities. In fact, he won a defamation and libel lawsuit against the Christic Institute when one of its researchers published a book suggesting Shackley was the mastermind of dubious activities during the Reagan administration. It was a landmark case in the US because so few public figures bother to take on slanderous researchers. But none of this is in this book, its just background on the author. He also wrote an "operational biography" entitled "Spymaster: My life in the CIA" which I also recommend.
There is a controversial hit piece biography of Shackley entitled "Blonde Ghost" by David Corn which is full of innuendoes and paints him poorly overall.
"The Third Option: An American View Of Counterinsurgency Operations" is recommended reading.
"The Third Option: An American View Of Counterinsurgency Operations," is an extended pamphlet handbook on counterinsurgency as a "third option" (the others being diplomacy and war) for the US to advance its foreign policy agenda in the era of Soviet support of guerilla movements. It was meant to be an assessment of the state of US counterinsurgency and intelligence doctrine circa 1981, after the author, Theodore Shackley, had left the CIA and was serving as a consultant for intelligence and defense matters. It also served as an overview of how to manage a counterinsurgency using historical examples from his era of service and moving forward including Vietnam, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Angola. It's a remarkable little book for those of us who remember the late 70s and the early 80s. It's only 144 pages, including an index and bibliography. Yet it not only captures the mood and the tone of period but also contains operational and policy recommendations that were implemented by the Reagan and Bush administrations. This book is so simple and has so many insights that I believe it is a worthy read for anyone familiar with later Cold War history (military and political) and policy. I believe the current crop of counterinsurgent warriors dealing mostly with Islamic movements would benefit from reading this book. Especially if they have a grasp of the background history. Meanwhile, older generations of Americans like myself who served in the military and intelligence communities in the 70s, 80s, and 90s would enjoy the book because we know so many of Shackley's good ideas (like the creation of a counter-terror unit like today's Delta Force) bore good fruit in the last 30 years.
Theodore Shackley was a CIA Director of Operations who was nicknamed "the Blonde Ghost" for his light colored hair and clandestine ways. His career in the government spanned the entire Cold War and placed him in key intelligence leadership positions at some of the most famous and infamous hot spots of that era. He started as a counterintelligence soldier in Europe at the end of WWII, was posted in Berlin in the fifties, was station Chief in Miami during the days of aggressive Anti-Castro operations against Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, he served in the secret war in Laos and then as Saigon station chief at the end of US involvement in 1972. He managed to evade the Congressional witch hunts of the 1970s ending his tenure as Associate Deputy Director for Operations under Bush until President Carter's CIA appointee, Admiral Turner, relieved him of his duties. It was a petulant move on the part of Turner and Carter. But Shackley moved on. He served as a consultant and frequent speaker at conservative forums. He was socially connected to some dubious characters of the 80s such as Ed Wilson of Libya fame and some of the planners of the Iran-Contra scandal but Shackley was never directly involved in any of those activities. In fact, he won a defamation and libel lawsuit against the Christic Institute when one of its researchers published a book suggesting Shackley was the mastermind of dubious activities during the Reagan administration. It was a landmark case in the US because so few public figures bother to take on slanderous researchers. But none of this is in this book, its just background on the author. He also wrote an "operational biography" entitled "Spymaster: My life in the CIA" which I also recommend.
There is a controversial hit piece biography of Shackley entitled "Blonde Ghost" by David Corn which is full of innuendoes and paints him poorly overall.
"The Third Option: An American View Of Counterinsurgency Operations" is recommended reading.
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