Strategy (Military Science)

Military Strategy in the Cyber Era: Continuities and Changes

by ANTHIMOS TSIRIGOTIS

Cyber seems to have created a frenzy of reactions around the world for the last five years. Digital attacks against... more Cyber seems to have created a frenzy of reactions around the world for the last five years. Digital attacks against the networks of states have been proven to be potent enough to provoke considerable harm to the security of information-dependent societies. Threats stemming not from traditional military actions (i.e. bombardment, troop invasion) but instead from malicious computer programs can kneel down the Critical Infrastructures and degrade backbone networks of states. The exposure of contemporary states to the cyberspace is considered to be Achilles heel vulnerable to any malevolent actor whose identity is difficult to be revealed. Military strategy in the cyber era is undergoing the strenuous process of being revised mainly because of the new profile that foes within the cyber dimension have. However, no matter how profound the changes are, the nature of the strategy will remain untouched. Its function for bridging military and political effects will continue to be necessary in the cyber era even though strategists should find new guiding paths among ends, means and ways.           

How Did Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) Affect Military Strategy

by Bradley Martin

Graded presentation for Introduction to Security Studies Course

The presentation reviews Revolutions in Military Affairs (RMA) and their application to military strategy. The presentation reviews Revolutions in Military Affairs (RMA) and their application to military strategy.

MI (R), G (R) and British covert operations, 1939–42

by Simon Anglim

A Landscape of Conflict: An Archaeological Investigation of the New Hope Church Battlefield

by Jason Brooks

Master's Thesis

The Battle of New Hope Church was fought on May 25-26, 1864 as part of the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War.... more The Battle of New Hope Church was fought on May 25-26, 1864 as part of the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War. This research utilizes historical records along with archaeological fieldwork in order to better understand the battlefield landscape. Although the battlefield was only occupied for a short period of time, individual actors would have behaved in, perceived of, and constructed the battlefield landscape based on a set of cultural norms imposed on them by the strict structure of the
military. This research offers insight into the construction of the battlefield landscape at New Hope Church, how it is connected to related battlefield landscapes, and how it has been memorialized as a landscape of conflict.

Thinking Strategically About Sanctions

by Olivier Schmitt

Paris Papers N°4, IRSEM

Students of sanctions tend either to use a vocabulary coming from strategic studies without recognizing all the... more Students of sanctions tend either to use a vocabulary coming from strategic studies without recognizing all the implications of such a use or to describe strategic concepts without naming them. After having justified the relevance of a strategic analysis of sanctions by underlining their common political and coercive nature, an analysis of sanctions using strategic concepts leads to interesting findings and a research agenda proposal for broadening our understanding of the use of sanctions in world politics.

UK cyber security: Grand strategy and the state.

by Tim Stevens

In: World Defence Systems 2012(1): 21-23.

Operational Design: Promise and Problems

by Adam Elkus

Deterrence e Détente: uma breve discussão metodológica

by Daniel Rio Tinto

Published in "Polímnia", Nº2, Vol. 1, 2011. Article in Portuguese.

EN - Several important authors attain causal relation between the Cold War Détente to the establishment of a mutual... more EN - Several important authors attain causal relation between the Cold War Détente to the establishment of a mutual assured destruction system supported by nuclear weapons. This article will discuss the methodological validity of this analysis, verifying the relation between the theory of nuclear dissuasion and it's practice during the Détente. I will argue that there is no causal relation and the nuclear weapons are mostly a interdependent variable.

PT - Uma série de autores consagrados relacionam de forma causal o período da Guerra Fria que ficou conhecido como Détente ao estabelecimento do sistema de destruição mútua assegurada por meio da obliteração nuclear. Este artigo pretende discutir a validade metodológica desta análise, verificando a relação entre a teoria da dissuasão nuclear e a prática durante o período da Détente. A linha de argumentação seguida é a de que não há relação de causalidade e que a as armas nucleares atuam no máximo como variável interveniente.

La stratégie spatiale militaire a stratégie spatiale militaire chinoise

by Alain De Neve

Strategic Planning and Models of Reality

by Kristofer Carlson

(In Katsujinken, March 2012): Tactics, Weapons and Techniques of Persian Warriors in the Book of Kings - Part One

by Arun Singh

Co-authored with Dr Manouchehr M Khorasani and Hessamoddin Shafeian. Katsujinken, March 2012.

Pre-order now to obtain a copy.

http://www.katsujinkenmagazine.com/
https://www.facebook.com/KatsujinkenMagazine?ref=ts
http://www.prlog.org/11778053-donnaink-publications-announces-release-of-katsujinken-magazine-volume-2.html

The Ottomans: From Frontier Principality to Empire

by Gabor Agoston

Published in in John Andreas Olsen and Colin S Gray eds., The Practice of Strategy From Alexander the Great to the Present. Oxford University Press, 2011, pp. 105-131.
Commissioned for a volume that studies the practice of strategy from Alexander the Great to the present, the chapter examines Ottoman strategies of expansion and rule, strategic culture, sovereignty and ideology, and military power from the fourteenth through the late seventeenth century.

Transforming Counterinsurgent Strategy - Using the Topography of Intelligence

by Lukas Milevski

Infinity Journal 2/1 (December 2011), 21-24.

Command of the Cities: Towards a Theory of Urban Strategy

by John P. Sullivan

Co-authored with Adam Elkus at 'Small Wars Journal,' 26 September 2011.

Cities are likely to play major roles in the distribution of future global power. In 2008, over half of the world’s... more Cities are likely to play major roles in the distribution of future global power. In 2008, over half of the world’s 6.6 billion inhabitants lived in cities.  This development has led many observers to note that we now live in the “urban century.”  According to one view “Our future existence as a species is, inevitably, an urban one.  By 2050, some projections have it that seven out of every 10 humans on earth will be living in a city.” With at least 200 cities of a million or more already in place or developing, urban warfare is now a strategic rather than operational or tactical question.

Urban warfare is remarkably diverse. Students of recent military history have observed and discussed urban sieges on the scale of Stalingrad, urban terrorist assaults like Mumbai, “Londonistan” type incubators of extremism, or feral feuds like those currently seen in the gang wars occurring in Ciudad Juárez and the world’s “invisible cities” (global slums). Here we attempt to stimulate the development of a theoretical framework for thinking about the command of the cities by states and other political communities.

Elephants Chasing Ants: Counter-piracy operations and the failure of strategy in the Gulf of Aden

by Andy Young

Draft Copy

Currently, there are over 30 Warships from more than 16 Nations undertaking counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of... more Currently, there are over 30 Warships from more than 16 Nations undertaking counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden (GoA). Yet, despite the disparity of force betwen these ultra-modern high tech vessels and the low-tech criminals, piracy remains a thriving business venture. Only by focussing on the root causes of piracy can the international community deal efectively with these maritime guerillas who are truly the 'enemies of all mankind'.

Covert Operations, Strategic Asset

by Simon Anglim

Draft paper on covert activities. Rejected already by one journal as possibly 'too hot to handle.'

Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not kick off the nuclear revolution

by Bleddyn Bowen

Master's essay

Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not mark the beginnings of a ‘nuclear revolution’ as it is understood. The strategic... more Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not mark the beginnings of a ‘nuclear revolution’ as it is understood. The strategic environment and technological capabilities for a revolution did not exist in 1945 and not until much later.

The Application of Force and Strategy in Sun Tzu and Clausewitz

by Bleddyn Bowen

Master's essay

Whilst separated by great distances in time, geography and culture, both Sun Tzu and Carl von Clausewitz can be seen... more Whilst separated by great distances in time, geography and culture, both Sun Tzu and Carl von Clausewitz can be seen to have developed a rather similar outlook on strategy and the application of force. Whilst both are mutually complementary, Clausewitz has the better overall work on strategy. One would do well to read both On War and The Art of War before becoming a statesman

Russian Military Transformation - Work in Progress

by Keir Giles

December 2010

Russia’s Baltic Fleet, and troops based in Kaliningrad Region, have been absorbed into an entirely new military... more Russia’s Baltic Fleet, and troops based in Kaliningrad Region, have been absorbed into an entirely new military command structure as part of the ongoing overhaul of the Russian Armed Forces. With effect from 1st September 2010, the Baltic and Northern Fleets, Kaliningrad, and the Moscow and Leningrad Military Districts have been amalgamated into a new Western Military District, with headquarters in St Petersburg.

It is now just over two years since Russia embarked on the most radical programme of military reform it had seen since the end of the Soviet Union, and in many respects since long before that. The armed conflict between Russia and Georgia in August 2008 provided the impetus for the long-overdue creation of a distinct form for the Russian military, as opposed to a continuing existence as a pale remnant of the Soviet Armed Forces. The process of transformation now under way has affected the military, and individual servicemen, at all levels from the General Staff to newly-enlisted conscripts, and the emerging form of the new Russian forces fully justifies their claim to a “new look”.

Russian regional commands

by Keir Giles