Understanding War: An Annotated Bibliography

720 Pages·2016·2.78 MB·English

by  Christian P. Potholm

Understanding War
The War Trilogy
Volume I: Winning at War
Volume II: War Wisdom
Volume III: Understanding War
Understanding War
An Annotated Bibliography
Christian P. Potholm
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Contents
Preface xi
I:AnalyzingWarfare 1
1 WhyStudyMilitaryMatters? 3
2 ErosandMars:TheNatureofHumankind;or,MakingLoveand
War 15
3 TheSearchforFundamentalTruthsaboutWar:SunTzu,
Kautilya,Thucydides,Jomini,Clausewitz,andOtherMilitary
ThinkersandStudentsofWar 23
4 GeopoliticsandtheLongShadowofGeography 41
5 TheTemplateofMars 47
SuperiorWeaponsandTechnologicalEntrepreneurship 48
SuperiorDiscipline 51
SustainedbutControlledRuthlessness 55
ReceptivitytoMilitaryandIntegrativeInnovation 64
TheAbilityandWillingnesstoProtectCapitalfromPeople
andRulers 68
TheCentralityofSuperiorWill 70
TheBeliefThatThereWillAlwaysBeAnotherWar 74
6 TheDecisiontoDroptheAtomicBomb;or,HiroshimaasSeen
throughtheLensofMars 79
7 MarsIsaJealousGod,Part1:TheLessonsofIraqWarI;or,
ClausewitzVindicated—FortheLastTime? 83
8 IstheTemplateObsoleteintheFaceofInsurgencies? 91
TheoreticiansandPractitioners 92
vii
viii Contents
OverviewsofInsurgency 115
SomeIllustrativeCaseStudies:ShowingtheExperienceof
InsurgencyandCounterinsurgencyacrossCross-Cultural
Lines 118
9 TheAmerican“Empire”andtheDangersThatLieAhead 141
TheEmpireasEmpire(orHegemon) 142
TheNuclearDimension 148
China 149
FailedandFragileStates 157
IslamicRadicalSalafistsandLocalandGlobalInsurgencies 161
Afghanistan:WatchontheDanubeRedux 165
II:TopicsinWar 171
10 EarlyWarfare 173
11 ClassicalInfantry:Greek 187
12 ClassicalInfantry:Roman 199
13 TheHorsemenCometh:TheCentralityofMountedWarcraft 215
PartI:TheMountedHorsemenoftheSteppes 216
PartII:EuropeanHeavyHorse:FeudalismandKnighthood,
PowerDiffusionandItsConsequences,andLaterPower
Centralization 219
PartIII:Byzantium 231
PartIV:AfricanHeavyHorse:PowerCentralizationand
PowerDiffusion 237
PartV:ArabLight(er)Horse:FlowandEbb,EbbandFlow 238
PartVI:JapaneseandChineseHorsemen 243
PartVII:ParthianandSassanianHorsemen 247
PartVIII:MongolandLaterTurkicAsianHorsemen 247
PartIX:IndianandSouthAsianHorsemen 253
14 TheVikings 257
15 TheGunpowderandDisciplineRevolutionandtheExpansion
oftheGunpowderEmpires 261
16 EraoftheEuropeanGreatCaptains 271
MauriceofNassau(1567–1625) 276
GustavusAdolphus(1594–1632) 277
TheDukeofMarlborough(1650–1722) 279
CharlesXII(1682–1718) 281
LouisXIV(1638–1715) 282
FredericktheGreat(1712–1786) 283
17 WarfareonthePeripheryandtheExpansionoftheEuropean
GunpowderEmpires 285