Thursday, May 1, 2014

Issue 14

Are 20th-century-style conventional military assets and strategies still relevant, or are they being replaced by drones, cyber-warfare, counterinsurgency, and satellite technologies?
Background Essay
Okhrana Records, Box 237, Hoover Institution Archives.
Background Essay

Proper Military Balance As A Hedge Against An Uncertain Future

by Andrew Robertsvia Strategika
Thursday, May 1, 2014

The only thing that is predictable in warfare is its unpredictability. As soon as experts, general staffs, and politicians decide what they believe will be the nature of the next war in order to prepare for it properly, an entirely different kind of conflict happens. The witness of history is so uniform in this regard that it needs to become a general law of warfare: The war we expect and plan for is never the one we’re called upon to fight.

Podcast: Strategika: “A History of Surprise: War and Unpredictability” with Andrew Roberts
Articles
Featured Commentary
Okhrana Records, Box 237, Hoover Institution Archives.
Featured Commentary

Be Prepared For Conventional War, Even If It’s Unconventional

by Frederick W. Kaganvia Strategika
Thursday, May 1, 2014

Kharkov. Dnepropetrovsk. Odessa. Mariupol. Sites of great armor battles seven decades ago, these cities are once again the front line of war. Tanks are massed but remain idle. Protesters, separatists, and “little green men” are the foot soldiers in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Snipers are the most effective weapons. Ukraine may fall to this “invasion” more easily than to an armored assault. Is this quasi-war the ultimate proof of the irrelevance of conventional forces today?

Podcast: Strategika: “The Wars of the Future" with Fred Kagan
Articles
Okhrana Records, Box 237, Hoover Institution Archives.
Featured Commentary

The Continuing Relevance of Conventional Military Forces

by Peter R. Mansoorvia Strategika
Thursday, May 1, 2014

In his magisterial treatise On War, Prussian military philosopher Carl von Clausewitz wrote that war may have its own grammar, but not its own logic. By this he meant that wars are fought for political purposes, and although the means by which they are waged changes over time, the nature of war remains constant. History has witnessed a number of revolutions in military affairs, periods of time in which the grammar of war has changed significantly.

Podcast: Strategika: “The More Wars Change, the More They Stay the Same” with Peter Mansoor
Articles
Additional Resources: 
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Discussion Questions for Educators and Policy Makers
Suggestions for Further Reading
Featured Poll

Has the "face of battle" as we once knew it changed forever?

Cast your vote