Comparative analysis of the national liberation movements in Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Algeria with specific reference to the development and interrelationship of political ideology and military strategy

John Joseph McGrath, Fordham University

Abstract

The dissertation is an original attempt to understand the dynamics and process of revolutionary development in three struggles based upon the principle of national self-determination. This work concentrates primarily on the liberation movement in Northern Ireland and South Africa. Algeria's revolution has been incorporated, where applicable, in order to provide historical comparison upon which the dynamics in the current revolutions in Northern Ireland and South Africa can be critically analyzed. Despite certain shortcomings of the comparative method, it is found that these three movements clearly follow a similar pattern with respect to both revolutionary consciousness and praxis. Furthermore, the interrelationship between political ideology and military strategy follows consistent patterns. This study also discusses the unique and divergent paths of each movement. The most important substantive findings in the dissertation centers on the internal mechanism for resolving conflict between political and military revolutionary strategists in all three movements. The last chapter attempts to work out the probability of negotiations, civil war, and counterrevolution by bringing together the primary revolutionary and counterrevolutionary forces in Northern Ireland and South Africa.

Subject Area

Criminology|Political science|History

Recommended Citation

McGrath, John Joseph, "Comparative analysis of the national liberation movements in Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Algeria with specific reference to the development and interrelationship of political ideology and military strategy" (1990). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI9020018.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI9020018

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