Infinity Journal Volume 6, Issue 4, Summer 2019

Volume 6, Issue 4, Summer 2019 Infinity Journal Page 2 It seems to be part of the human condition to both want and reject change.There is little insight in saying this except to foreshadow that change is coming to Infinity Journal (IJ).When we first came into existence nearly nine years ago there was no similar publication, both in terms of content and method of delivery.Today that statement is less easy to make, as blogs and websites championing the unrestricted or ill-defined subject of strategy has exploded. Today, being a “strategist” is not the result of having served on campaign planning teams or even to have been a proven student of strategy from whom others have sought advice, but it can literally be anyone, and strategy can be about anything you want it to be. Where IJ has stood apart is in our insistence on a set standard and definition, which unequivocally links strategy to the consequences of violence as may exist in politics, and that politics is about influence. Some nearly 250 published articles, sourced from over 1,000 peer-reviewed submissions, have subjected us and our readers to both the very best and, in some cases, the very mediocre insights concerned with our subject. As Editor I make no apology for mediocre articles. I may have written some myself but no one at IJ seeks to stifle debate or impose a subjective and arbitrary style or standard.You are welcome to your opinion.You are not welcome to your own facts or to alter the conversation to your area of comfort. Whatever changes may come, we will not alter those basic values and ideas, but we will have to be open to include the application of violent means as to how that may drive the discussions and understanding of strategy. Strategy can only be done as tactics, and in terms of the state and/or armed group, as they are still the main practitioners in this field.That is why, beginning with volume 7, issue 1, Infinity Journal will be retitled Military Strategy Magazine , to be known simply as Military Strategy . Change should also mean more writers with a more diverse background and experience, so hopefully we will get to discuss the relevance of things such as Rules of Engagement as true instruments of policy, without getting sucked into academic arguments, which will mean nothing to the practitioner community. If strategy is really about the consequences of violence then the time, place, nature and expression of violence, as something relevant to policy, should have more time in print than it currently does. How, where, why and whom you kill, matters.“Kind-hearted people might of course think there was some ingenious way to disarm or defeat an enemy without too much bloodshed, and might imagine this is the true goal of the art of war. Pleasant as it sounds, it is a fallacy that must be exposed”. If you can help with that exposure, stick around. William F. Owen Editor, Infinity Journal January 2019 A Note from the Editor