Volume 4, Issue 1, Summer 2014
Infinity Journal
Page 14
Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. The
strategist’s obligation is providing the framework through
which tactical success is firmly linked to achieving policy and
strategic objectives.Strategy must articulate the way in which
we use engagements to the end of attaining the object of
the war or use of force. As Clausewitz wrote, “The whole of
military activity must therefore relate directly or indirectly to
the engagement…the whole object…is simply that he (the
Soldier) should fight at the right place and the right time.”[i]
What good does it do the commander and her Soldiers to
arrive at the right place at the right time if the purpose of the
action is not linked to the attainment of strategic and policy
objectives? Concepts of how to use the force of the future
and even future focused war games also require knowledge
of strategy and policy. Policy without strategy squanders
military, economic, informational and human efforts.
Clausewitz proposes a two step test to guide strategists in
both interaction with policy makers and developing strategy.
The first step reminds the strategist war is never autonomous
but always an instrument of policy.The second step reminds
us given step one war will vary given changing motives and
situations.This argument precedes the famous quotation,“The
first, the supreme, the most far-reaching act of judgment that
the statesman and commander have to make is to establish
by that test the kind of war on which they are embarking;
neither mistaking it for, nor trying to turn it into, something
that is alien to its nature.”[ii] This essay proposes a model for
strategists to use in the development of 21st century strategy.
For the purpose of this essay the situation in Nigeria is most
useful for application of this model and development of a
proposed strategy.
What good does it do the
commander and her Soldiers to
arrive at the right place at the right
time if the purpose of the action
is not linked to the attainment of
strategic and policy objectives?
Recent articles offering to“ctrl-alt-delete”our forces and“start
from a blank slate”support a need for strategists and strategy.
[iii] In January 2014 Hew Strachan stated,“President Obama
is “chronically incapable” of military strategy…”[iv] The
question which follows is why should the president formulate
military strategy? One could conclude from Strachan’s
argument there are no strategists merely people involved in
the process of divining policy and strategy.To suggest war is
the mere extension of a policy is a serious error in thinking.
War remains a continuation and instrument of policy and
strategists must produce military objectives from statements
of policy. There is a vital need for strategists just as there is a
need for policy makers.More to the point there is a vital need
for critical thinking and discourse in the development of both
policy and strategy.
While the nature of war has not changed – greed, passion,
fear, and honor – clearly the conditions of war do change.
Strategists must recognize this fact. Strategists must also give
the enemy/opponent/adversary his due, keeping in mind
the enemy too develops policy and strategy. Given these
conditions how do we develop the strategies we need to
confront 21st century enemies and conditions? The tried and
Kevin C.M. Benson
U.S.Army
University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies
Fort Leavenworth
Bryan Groves is pursuing a PhD in national security policy
at Duke University’s Sanford School for Public Policy. He
holds a Master’s degree from Yale and has been an
Assistant Professor in the Social Sciences Department at
West Point.There he taught international relations,terrorism
and counterterrorism, and was the Deputy Director of
the Combating Terrorism Center. He has published in
numerous journals including
Studies in Conflict and
Terrorism
, the
Central European Journal of International
and Security Studies
, the
InterAgency Journal
, and the
Journal of Strategic Security
. He is an Army Special Forces
officer and Strategist, worked the Iraq transition in the
State Department, and has served in Bosnia, Iraq, and
Afghanistan. Groves is pursuing his PhD as a member
of the School for Advanced Military Studies’ (SAMS)
Advanced Strategic Planning and Policy Program (ASP3).
To cite this Article:
Benson, Kevin C.M., “Do Something: A model for the development of 21st Century Strategy,”
Infinity Journal
,
Volume 4, Issue 1, summer 2014, pages 14-16.
Do Something: A model for the development of 21st
Century Strategy
