In Memoriam: Dr. Max Manwaring

It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of Dr. Max G. Manwaring who left us at 92 years of age earlier this year. Dr. Manwaring was the past General Douglas MacArthur Chair of Research at the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and a long time Fellow with Small Wars Journal–El Centro. He was also a retired Colonel in the US Army and a recognized Latin American scholar embodying the best tradition of being an Army scholar-soldier. He served in the US Southern Command and the Defense Intelligence Agency. He also held positions at Dickinson College and Memphis University.

Dr. Manwaring was a strong advocate of El Centro and friend and colleague of Robert Bunker (El Centro Senior Fellow) while they were both at the USAWC Strategic Studies Institute.  He was a subject matter expert and prolific writer in the fields of Latin American security studies, political-military affairs, insurgency, and gangs and cartels. In the 1990s, he developed the SWORD (Small Wars Operations Research Directorate) Model, aka the Manwaring Paradigm, which was a framework for analyzing and conducting counterinsurgency (COIN) operations.

Some of his published works include:

An overview of Dr. Manwaring’s rich life can be viewed here: https://www.goffmortuary.com/obituaries/max-manwaring