It is hard to know where to start in reviewing a book like Command: The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine, Sir Lawrence Freedman’s most recent capacious history of a military phenomenon. In previous work, Freedman has tackled strategy and nuclear deterrence—pretty much all of both.[1] Here, he sets out to examine “the…
Tag: military strategy
H-Diplo | RJISSF Review Essay 109: Greentree on Stoker, Why America Loses Wars
With war and the prospect for more upon the world, this may seem an inopportune time to delve into a book titled Why America Loses Wars. It is not. Wars shape our world, threatening a descent into chaos while promising a better peace. China’s rise, Russian president Vladimir Putin’s revanchism, the US involvement in the…
H-Diplo | RJISSF Review Essay 100: Maurer on O’Hanlon, Military History for the Modern Strategist
Michael O’Hanlon is a much-respected analyst of foreign policy, national defense, and military strategy at the Brookings Institution.[2] In Military History for the Modern Strategist: America’s Major Wars Since 1861, he looks back at the major wars fought by the United States since 1861. He devotes a chapter to each case study: the Civil War;…
Article Review 146 on “Presidents, Politics, and Military Strategy: Electoral Constraints during the Iraq War.”
The next election looms over nearly all decisions democratic leaders make. Choices about military strategy are no exception. Whatever the merits of a particular policy, it could well be overturned, along with the rest of a leader’s agenda, if it prompts voters to remove him or her from office. Some observers have long worried that…
Roundtable 11-12 on Active Defense: China’s Military Strategy since 1949
Books on Chinese military issues have traditionally been of interest to a small and inward-looking community of security-minded China-focused academics and policy analysts far from the mainstream of their disciplinary fields and professions. But with China’s growing prominence on the global stage, interest in Chinese defense and strategic matters has also become more widespread. This…