Overview

Uncertain Allies looks at the U.S. military’s experience in the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater during World War II through the eyes of Joseph Stilwell, the commanding general of all American forces in those three countries. Accomplished historian Eric Setzekorn, focuses on two key themes: uncertain allies and ambiguous missions.  Despite being allies, relationships between the Americans and Chinese, as well as the Americans and the British, were marked by a profound lack of trust in the CBI theater. This was particularly problematic because most combat personnel under Stilwell’s command were Chinese. As a result, the lack of trust directly impacted tactical and operational planning. The second reoccurring theme, ambiguous missions, refers to the poorly defined goals for the theater. The CBI’s mission was vague, and Stilwell lacked clear objectives or benchmarks of success.   Underlying both themes is the key flaw in Stilwell’s conduct in the CBI theater: a failure to understand the American political context in which he operated. Stilwell advocated for a transactional military and political relationship despite clear indications that President Roosevelt, other political leaders, and the American public at large desired a long-term cooperative relationship. In this context of deep and widespread public support for forging a close and lasting alliance with China, Stilwell’s proposals to make military aid and American support on a quid pro quo basis was an isolated position that inevitably ran into staunch opposition. The result was a dangerous disconnect between American military operations and national policy.  Setzekorn, who is fluent in Chinese, relied on a wide variety of sources when writing this penetrating account of the U.S. military’s time in the CBI theater, including Chinese and Japanese language archival material. The declassification of numerous U.S. government sources over the past fifteen years also enables Setzekorn to make a full assessment and analysis of World War II-era strategic thinking and military policy.

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9781682472033

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Reviews

"""An expert on East Asian military history, Dr. Setzekorn has earned justified acclaim for his work on American support for the Nationalist Chinese Army during World War II and the early Cold War. His work on Stilwell's experience will provide new insights into the current situation in the Indo-Pacific.""--David W. Hogan, Director of Histories, U.S. Army Center of Military History ""Uncertain Allies should be required reading for today's senior military leaders. This highly researched and engaging case study helps us to understand the complicated dynamics of political-military coordination. Its strong argument is highly relevant to current events and this book should appeal not just to military historians, but anyone interested in U.S. national security.""--John C. Petersen, Dept. of Defense ""Filling an important gap in World War II studies, this will be the definitive book on Stilwell and the CBI theater for the foreseeable future. With his background as a US Army historian and his facility in Chinese, Setzekorn is uniquely qualified to write this important study. Using previously overlooked archival materials from Fort Leavenworth as well as copious Chinese and Japanese sources, he finds that Stilwell failed to fully grasp the political contexts in which he operated and this failure was the primary reason for his difficulties. Moreover, this experience established a pattern that has plagued all subsequent US cooperative military operations from Korea through Iraq. Thus, the book should be required reading for anyone interested not only in World War II, but also in its continuing implications for coalition building and joint military actions.""--Kenneth M. Swope, Professor of History and Senior Fellow of the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society at the University of Southern Mississippi."

Author Information

Eric Setzekorn works for the U.S. federal government and lives in Falls Church, Virginia. After serving in the U.S. Army and the intelligence community, he received his PhD from George Washington University. He has published two other books: The Rise and Fall of an Officer Corps: The Republic of China Military, 1942-1955, and Arming East Asia: Deterring China in the Early Cold War.

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