Volume 9, Issue 1
Summer 2023
Co-Opting Clausewitz: Using On War to Explain Success and Failure in the War in Ukraine
Hugh Smith
Clausewitz’s analysis of war has frequently been used to explain wars since his time, including the current war in Ukraine. His ideas of defence as a stronger form of warfare and of the centre of gravity of a campaign are examined and some of the pitfalls in applying those ideas are pointed out.
ReadThe Roots of Bad Strategy
M.L.R. Smith
Not nearly enough effort is devoted to uncovering the roots of bad strategy. Bad strategy, this analysis suggests, resides in an inability to engage in proportionate actions arising from the persistence of a total war mentality. Those who consider themselves contemporary strategists take some responsibility for the continuing preponderance of bad strategy.
ReadCivil War Comes to the West
David Betz
The major threat to the security and prosperity of the West today emanates not from abroad but from its own dire social instability, structural and economic decline, cultural desiccation and elite incompetence which is leading to civil war. It is vital to understand the causes of this and to anticipate the likely conduct and strategic logic of the violent eruptions of civil conflict which loom on the West’s horizon.
ReadEstablishing the Realm of the Possible: Logistics and Military Strategy
Jon Klug
Military strategy and logistics have an interrelated, almost symbiotic relationship. This article contextualizes logistics in military theory, conveys its significance in military history through Anglo-American operations in World War II, and evaluates its current and future practice. It argues that for military strategy, logistics remains a means that circumscribes the ways and plays key roles in determining the time horizon to achieve the desired ends, as well as the level of risk.
ReadThe Missing Strategic Theory Link in African Conflicts
Jonathan R. Beloff
This article questions why Strategic Theory is relatively absent in the study of African conflicts. Through the case study of Rwanda’s Civil War, it argues that our understanding of these African conflicts is severely limited because of the absence of Strategic Theory.
ReadShould Strategists Worry About the Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence?
Vincent J. Carchidi
This article explores an implicit philosophical assumption in strategy formation: that biological intelligence can be replicated, granting capabilities sufficient to justify a medium- and long-term strategic focus on artificial intelligence. It explains how an implicit and unstudied philosophy of AI often makes its way into force structure planning and national policy objectives across states.
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