Strategy : the logic of war and peace
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Strategy : the logic of war and peace
Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2001
Rev. and enl. ed
- : paper
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 299-303) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
"If you want peace, prepare for war." "A buildup of offensive weapons can be purely defensive." "The worst road may be the best route to battle." Strategy is made of such seemingly self-contradictory propositions, Edward Luttwak shows-they exemplify the paradoxical logic that pervades the entire realm of conflict.
In this widely acclaimed work, now revised and expanded, Luttwak unveils the peculiar logic of strategy level by level, from grand strategy down to combat tactics. Having participated in its planning, Luttwak examines the role of air power in the 1991 Gulf War, then detects the emergence of "post-heroic" war in Kosovo in 1999-an American war in which not a single American soldier was killed.
In the tradition of Carl von Clausewitz, Strategy goes beyond paradox to expose the dynamics of reversal at work in the crucible of conflict. As victory is turned into defeat by over-extension, as war brings peace by exhaustion, ordinary linear logic is overthrown. Citing examples from ancient Rome to our own days, from Barbarossa and Pearl Harbor down to minor combat affrays, from the strategy of peace to the latest operational methods of war, this book by one of the world's foremost authorities reveals the ultimate logic of military failure and success, of war and peace.
Table of Contents
Preface Part I: The Logic of Strategy 1. The Conscious Use of Paradox in War 2. The Logic in Action 3. Efficiency and the Culminating Point of Success 4. The Coming Together of Opposites Part II: The Levels of Strategy 5. The Technical Level 6. The Tactical Level 7. The Operational Level 8. Theater Strategy I: Military Options and Political Choices 9. Theater Strategy II: Offense and Defense 10. Theater Stragegy III: Interdiction and the Surprise Attack 11. Nonstrategies: Naval, Air, Nuclear 12. The Renaissance of Strategic Air Power Part III: Outcomes: Grand Strategy 13. The Scope of Grand Strategy 14. Armed Suasion 15. Harmony and Disharmony in War 16. Can Strategy Be Useful? Appendix A: Definitions of Strategy Appendix B: The Gulf War Air Campaign Appendix C: Instant Thunder Notes Works Cited Index
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