The direction of war: contemporary strategy in historical perspective

摘要

This is a detailed and expert description of how strategy, and the way it is understood and used in war and conflict, has evolved or reinvented itself. Written by an historian, it shows how alive and relevant history can be for present conflict issues. The chapters are based on previous papers, lectures and articles, resulting in some repetition and a sometimes discursive style; however this has the advantage that each chapter can be read as a stand alone, and issues become clearer as they resurface. Clausewitz's early nineteenth century 'On War' the most important book on strategy ever written (244) and its relevance for today is a recurring theme. Other historians are extensively referenced to present a full argument on issues such as the veracity or otherwise of claims that we are seeing 'new wars'. One of Clausewitz's interests was 'small wars'; he noted that partisans or guerrillas had their own strategic analysis leading them to disrupt communications and exploit geographical features such as mountains - something he could have written two centuries later (59). He also noted that a war of the people would probably be bloodier than others, but that it would not be their fault but the fault of those who had forced such a war upon them (59).