Strategic Studies: A Reader

470 Pages·2014·2.908 MB·English

by  Thomas G. Mahnken, Joseph A. Maiolo

Strategic Studies
The second edition of S trategic Studies: A Reader brings together key essays on strategic
theory by some of the leading contributors to the fi eld. This revised volume contains
several new essays and updated introductions to each section.
T he volume comprises hard-t o-fi nd classics in the fi eld as well as the latest scholar-
ship. The aim is to provide students with a wide- ranging survey of the key issues in
strategic studies, and to provide an introduction to the main ideas and themes in the
fi eld. The book contains six extensive sections, each of which is prefaced by a short
introductory essay:
• The uses of strategic theory
• Interpretation of the classics
• Instruments of war, intelligence and deception
• Nuclear strategy
• Irregular warfare and small wars
• Future warfare, future strategy
O verall, this volume strikes a balance between theoretical works, which seek to discover
generalizations about the nature of modern strategy, and case studies, which attempt to
ground the study of strategy in the realities of modern war.
This new edition will be essential reading for all students of strategic studies, security
studies, military history and war studies, as well as for professional military college
students.
Thomas G. Mahnken is currently Jerome E. Levy Chair of Economic Geography
and National Security at the US Naval War College. He is also a Visiting Scholar at the
Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at The Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H.
Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Joseph A. Maiolo is Professor of International History in the Department of War
Studies, King’s College London, UK.
‘A brilliant and, unlike most edited collections, coherent collection of essays by masters
past and present on the theory and practice of strategy. A superb primer for any and all
students of the subject.’ Eliot A. Cohen, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins
University, Washington, DC
‘This superb volume provides an essential primer for any student of strategic studies.’
Theo Farrell, Kings College, London
‘By a wide margin this is the premier Reader in the fi eld of strategic studies. For research
as well as teaching, it is an invaluable resource.’ Colin S. Gray, University of Reading

‘A fi ne collection of strategic thought.’ Journal of Military History
‘An essential text for anyone interested in the development of strategic ideas.’
Stephan Fruehling, Australian National University, Canberra

‘The new volume makes an excellent contribution to the study of strategy, and to the
ongoing debate on the complexity of strategy and the connection between security and
strategy. It is also a great and highly recommended teaching tool for advanced course on
strategic studies.’ Mohiaddin Mesbahi, Florida International University
Strategic Studies
A Reader
Second Edition
Edited by Thomas G. Mahnken and
Joseph A. Maiolo
RRoutledge
Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2008 by Routledge
This edition published 2014
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2014 selection and editorial material, Thomas G. Mahnken and Joseph A. Maiolo;
individual chapters, the contributors
The right of the editors to be identifi ed as the authors of the editorial material, and of
the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in
any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to
infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data has been requested
ISBN: 978–0–415–66111–9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978–0–415–66112–6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978–1–315–81480–3 (ebk)
Typeset in Baskerville
by Refi neCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
General introduction 1
PART I
The uses of strategic theory 5
I ntroduction 5
1 Strategic studies and the problem of power 9
LAWRENCE FREEDMAN
2 What is a military lesson? 22
WILLIAM C. FULLER, JR.
3 Why strategy is diffi cult 40
COLIN S. GRAY
PART II
Interpretation of the classics 49
I ntroduction 49
4 Who is afraid of Carl von Clausewitz?: A guide to
the perplexed 53
MICHAEL I. HANDEL
5 “The art of war” 76
SUN TZU
6 Strategy: the indirect approach 101
BASIL LIDDELL HART
vi Contents
7 Arms and infl uence 105
THOMAS C. SCHELLING
PART III
Instruments of war, intelligence and deception 127
I ntroduction 127
8 Some principles of maritime strategy 131
JULIAN CORBETT
9 Kosovo and the great air power debate 145
DANIEL L. BYMAN AND MATTHEW C. WAXMAN
10 What’s wrong with the intelligence process? 172
ROBERT JERVIS
11 Deception and intelligence failure: Anglo-German
preparations for U-boat warfare in the 1930s 184
JOSEPH A. MAIOLO
PART IV
Nuclear strategy 203
I ntroduction 203
12 The absolute weapon 207
BERNARD BRODIE
13 The delicate balance of terror 223
ALBERT WOHLSTETTER
14 Attacking the atom: does bombing nuclear facilities
affect proliferation? 240
SARAH KREPS AND MATTHEW FUHRMANN
PART V
Irregular warfare and small wars 261
I ntroduction 261
15 Science of guerrilla warfare 265
T.E. LAWRENCE
Contents vii
16 Problems of strategy in China’s civil war 274
MAO TSE TUNG
17 Strategic terrorism: the framework and its fallacies 309
PETER R. NEUMANN AND MICHAEL L.R. SMITH
18 Hybrid warfare and challenges 329
FRANK G. HOFFMAN
PART VI
Future warfare, future strategy 339
I ntroduction 339
19 Weapons: the growth and spread of the precision-s trike regime 343
THOMAS G. MAHNKEN
20 The revolution in military affairs with Chinese characteristics 355
JACQUELINE NEWMYER DEAL
21 Iron cannot fi ght: the role of technology in current
Russian military theory 372
TOR BUKKVOLL
22 From Kadesh to Kandahar: military theory and the future of war 392
MICHAEL EVANS
23 Cyber war will not take place 408
THOMAS RID
24 The lost meaning of strategy 429
HEW STRACHAN
Index 447
Acknowledgements
The publisher would like to thank the following for permission to reprint their
material:
Oxford University Press, for Freedman, Lawrence, “Strategic Studies and the Problem
of Power,” from War, Strategy, and International Politics (1992), edited by Lawrence
Freedman et al. , pp. 279–294.
N aval War College Press, for Fuller, William C., Jr., “What is a Military Lesson?,” from
Strategic Logic and Political Rationality: Essays in Honor of Michael I. Handel (Frank Cass,
2002), edited by Bradford A. Lee and Karl-Friedrich Walling, pp. 38–59.
N ational Defense University, for Gray, Colin S., “Why Strategy is Diffi cult,” J oint Force
Quarterly (summer 1999), pp. 6–12.
T he United States Naval War College, for Handel, Michael I., “Who is Afraid of Carl
von Clausewitz?: A Guide to the Perplexed” (summer 1999).
University of California Press, for Liddell Hart, Basil, The Decisive Wars of History (1929),
reprinted as Strategy: The Indirect Approach (London: Faber and Faber, 1954), extracted
in Gerard Chaliand, ed., T he Art of War in World History: From Antiquity to the Nuclear Age
(Berkeley, University of California Press, 1994), pp. 927–931.
University of California Press, for Schelling, Thomas C., A rms and Infl uence (New Haven,
CT: Yale University Press, 1966), pp. 1–34, extracted in Gerard Chaliand, ed., The
Art of War in World History: From Antiquity to the Nuclear Age (Berkeley, University of
California Press, 1994), pp. 1013–1022.
M IT Press, for Byman, Daniel L. and Waxman, Matthew C., “Kosovo and the Great
Air Power Debate,” I nternational Security , 24 (4) (spring 2000), pp. 5–38. © 2000 by the
President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
Acknowledgements ix
T aylor and Francis, for Jervis, Robert, “What’s Wrong with the Intelligence Process?,”
International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence , 1(1) (1986), pp. 28–41.
T aylor and Francis, for Maiolo, Joseph A., “Deception and Intelligence Failure: Anglo-
German Preparations for U-boat Warfare in the 1930s,” Journal of Strategic Studies,
22(4) (1999), pp. 55–76.
Houghton Miffl in Harcourt, for Brodie, Bernard (ed.), T he Absolute Weapon: Atomic Power
and World Order . © 1946 by Yale Institute of International Studies. Copyright ©
renewed 1974 by Yale Concilium on International and Area Studies. Used by permis-
sion of Houghton Miffl in Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
F oreign Affairs, for Wohlstetter, Albert, “The Delicate Balance of Terror.” Reprinted
by permission of Foreign Affairs, 37(2), pp. 211–234. © 1959 by the Council on Foreign
Relations, Inc. www.ForeignAffairs.com .
T aylor and Francis, for Kreps, Sarah and Fuhrmann, Matthew, “Attacking the Atom:
Does Bombing Nuclear Facilities Affect Proliferation?,” The Journal of Strategic Studies ,
34(2) (April 2011), pp. 161–187.
U niversity of California Press, for Lawrence, T.E., “Guerrilla,” reproduced in Gerard
Chaliand, ed., The Art of War in World History: From Antiquity to the Nuclear Age ,
pp. 880–890.
Taylor and Francis, for Neumann, Peter R. and Smith, Michael L.R., “Strategic
Terrorism: The Framework and its Fallacies,” The Journal of Strategic Studies 28(4)
(August 2005), pp. 571–595.
N ational Defense University, for Hoffman, Frank G., “Hybrid Warfare and Challenges, ”
Joint Force Quarterly (2009), pp. 34–48.
M IT Press, for Mahnken, Thomas G., “Weapons: The Growth and Spread of the
Precision-Strike Regime,” Daedalus , 140 (3) (summer 2011), pp. 45–57. © 2011 by the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
T aylor and Francis, for Newmyer Deal, Jacqueline, “The Revolution in Military Affairs
with Chinese Characteristics,” T he Journal of Strategic Studies , 33(4) (August 2010),
pp. 481–504.
Taylor and Francis, for Bukkvoll, Tor, “Iron Cannot Fight: The Role of Technology in
Current Russian Military Theory,” The Journal of Strategic Studies, 34(5) (October 2011),
pp. 681–706.