How the Strong Lose Wars: Transformative Goals and the Outcome of Asymmetric Conflict

This work proposes an explanation of strong actor failure in asymmetric conflict. It proposes and develops the hypothesis of transformative and non-transformative goals and shows the correlation between strong actor objectives and the outcome of asymmetric conflicts. The central argument of this work gravitates around the theme that strong actors are more likely to lose if it pursues transformative goals and, on the contrary, is more likely to win if it pursues non-transformative goals. The hypothesis is supported with results of research on asymmetric conflicts, which occurred between 1990 and 2008.