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ARTICLE DESCRIBES THE EVENTS AND POLICIES FOLLOWED BY THE LAO PATRIOTIC FROMT (NLHS) YHAT ENABLED IT TO GAIN POWER. THROUGH THE DEFT USE OF COALITION GOVERNMENTS & OPEN HOSTILTIY, THE NLHS WAS ABLE TO MAINTAIN SECURE BASES AND GRADUALLY EXPAND COMMUNIST POLITICAL & MILITARY CONTROL. THE NLHS USED ITS PARTICIPATION IN THE COALITION GOVERNMENT TO BROADEN ITS MASS SUPPORT.

The study of Communist theory & practice on the seizure of power by unconventional warfare, which plays a fundamental role in its world strategy, produces a series of propositions: Communists are flexible in waging internal war, irregular warfare is only one means, internal unconventional war is revolutionary war, & the condition for resorting to it is the world situation. Soviet leaders prefer subversion to guerrilla war. In future, the Chinese are likely to be the guiding spirit in guerrilla wars, as in Russia it has been subordinate to regular army action. The Communists see revolutionary war as a means of building pol'al support which would sustain power. The future role of guerrilla war in Communist strategy is probably mainly dependent on local opportunity. IPSA.

Reprinted in: Military R 42:29-40 Mr '62.

Responding to Luis Ramiro Fernandez's argument (2005), election results of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) & the United Left (IU) are broad indicators of unsuccessful party strategies & goals. Election results from 1977 to 2004 are reviewed in analyzing the effectiveness of the PCE/IU vote-seeking goals & strategies. The chart trend of the PCE/IU voting results (local elections, general & European Parliament elections) shows their popularity slipping in the last decade, hitting nadir in the 2004 election; thus, the long-term vote-seeking strategies of the party were unsuccessful. Additionally, there were strains in internal relations in regards to comparing vote vs. policy seeking goals; pragmatic leaders of the Nueva Izquierda publically criticized the PCE for policy reasons & subsequently joined the Socialists, thus further factionalizing the party. The Socialists were able to demonstrate hostile attitudes & political strength against the PCE. The impact of international terrorism events may have also contributed to the IU's decrease in vote popularity. The ramifications of the vote-seeking goals of the IU should be considered for the wider Europe & understanding the potential future of the communist parties. 1 Figure, 3 References. G. Chen