Strategic Studies The second edition of S trategic Studies: A Reader brings together key essays on strategic theory by some of the leading contributors to the fi eld. This revised volume contains several new essays and updated introductions to each section. T he volume comprises hard-t o-fi nd classics in the fi eld as well as the latest scholar- ship. The aim is to provide students with a wide- ranging survey of the key issues in strategic studies, and to provide an introduction to the main ideas and themes in the fi eld. The book contains six extensive sections, each of which is prefaced by a short introductory essay: • The uses of strategic theory • Interpretation of the classics • Instruments of war, intelligence and deception • Nuclear strategy • Irregular warfare and small wars • Future warfare, future strategy O verall, this volume strikes a balance between theoretical works, which seek to discover generalizations about the nature of modern strategy, and case studies, which attempt to ground the study of strategy in the realities of modern war. This new edition will be essential reading for all students of strategic studies, security studies, military history and war studies, as well as for professional military college students. Thomas G. Mahnken is currently Jerome E. Levy Chair of Economic Geography and National Security at the US Naval War College. He is also a Visiting Scholar at the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at The Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Joseph A. Maiolo is Professor of International History in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, UK. ‘A brilliant and, unlike most edited collections, coherent collection of essays by masters past and present on the theory and practice of strategy. A superb primer for any and all students of the subject.’ Eliot A. Cohen, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC ‘This superb volume provides an essential primer for any student of strategic studies.’ Theo Farrell, Kings College, London ‘By a wide margin this is the premier Reader in the fi eld of strategic studies. For research as well as teaching, it is an invaluable resource.’ Colin S. Gray, University of Reading ‘A fi ne collection of strategic thought.’ Journal of Military History ‘An essential text for anyone interested in the development of strategic ideas.’ Stephan Fruehling, Australian National University, Canberra ‘The new volume makes an excellent contribution to the study of strategy, and to the ongoing debate on the complexity of strategy and the connection between security and strategy. It is also a great and highly recommended teaching tool for advanced course on strategic studies.’ Mohiaddin Mesbahi, Florida International University Strategic Studies A Reader Second Edition Edited by Thomas G. Mahnken and Joseph A. Maiolo RRoutledge Taylor & Francis Group LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2008 by Routledge This edition published 2014 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2014 selection and editorial material, Thomas G. Mahnken and Joseph A. Maiolo; individual chapters, the contributors The right of the editors to be identifi ed as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data has been requested ISBN: 978–0–415–66111–9 (hbk) ISBN: 978–0–415–66112–6 (pbk) ISBN: 978–1–315–81480–3 (ebk) Typeset in Baskerville by Refi neCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk Contents Acknowledgements viii General introduction 1 PART I The uses of strategic theory 5 I ntroduction 5 1 Strategic studies and the problem of power 9 LAWRENCE FREEDMAN 2 What is a military lesson? 22 WILLIAM C. FULLER, JR. 3 Why strategy is diffi cult 40 COLIN S. GRAY PART II Interpretation of the classics 49 I ntroduction 49 4 Who is afraid of Carl von Clausewitz?: A guide to the perplexed 53 MICHAEL I. HANDEL 5 “The art of war” 76 SUN TZU 6 Strategy: the indirect approach 101 BASIL LIDDELL HART vi Contents 7 Arms and infl uence 105 THOMAS C. SCHELLING PART III Instruments of war, intelligence and deception 127 I ntroduction 127 8 Some principles of maritime strategy 131 JULIAN CORBETT 9 Kosovo and the great air power debate 145 DANIEL L. BYMAN AND MATTHEW C. WAXMAN 10 What’s wrong with the intelligence process? 172 ROBERT JERVIS 11 Deception and intelligence failure: Anglo-German preparations for U-boat warfare in the 1930s 184 JOSEPH A. MAIOLO PART IV Nuclear strategy 203 I ntroduction 203 12 The absolute weapon 207 BERNARD BRODIE 13 The delicate balance of terror 223 ALBERT WOHLSTETTER 14 Attacking the atom: does bombing nuclear facilities affect proliferation? 240 SARAH KREPS AND MATTHEW FUHRMANN PART V Irregular warfare and small wars 261 I ntroduction 261 15 Science of guerrilla warfare 265 T.E. LAWRENCE Contents vii 16 Problems of strategy in China’s civil war 274 MAO TSE TUNG 17 Strategic terrorism: the framework and its fallacies 309 PETER R. NEUMANN AND MICHAEL L.R. SMITH 18 Hybrid warfare and challenges 329 FRANK G. HOFFMAN PART VI Future warfare, future strategy 339 I ntroduction 339 19 Weapons: the growth and spread of the precision-s trike regime 343 THOMAS G. MAHNKEN 20 The revolution in military affairs with Chinese characteristics 355 JACQUELINE NEWMYER DEAL 21 Iron cannot fi ght: the role of technology in current Russian military theory 372 TOR BUKKVOLL 22 From Kadesh to Kandahar: military theory and the future of war 392 MICHAEL EVANS 23 Cyber war will not take place 408 THOMAS RID 24 The lost meaning of strategy 429 HEW STRACHAN Index 447 Acknowledgements The publisher would like to thank the following for permission to reprint their material: Oxford University Press, for Freedman, Lawrence, “Strategic Studies and the Problem of Power,” from War, Strategy, and International Politics (1992), edited by Lawrence Freedman et al. , pp. 279–294. N aval War College Press, for Fuller, William C., Jr., “What is a Military Lesson?,” from Strategic Logic and Political Rationality: Essays in Honor of Michael I. Handel (Frank Cass, 2002), edited by Bradford A. Lee and Karl-Friedrich Walling, pp. 38–59. N ational Defense University, for Gray, Colin S., “Why Strategy is Diffi cult,” J oint Force Quarterly (summer 1999), pp. 6–12. T he United States Naval War College, for Handel, Michael I., “Who is Afraid of Carl von Clausewitz?: A Guide to the Perplexed” (summer 1999). University of California Press, for Liddell Hart, Basil, The Decisive Wars of History (1929), reprinted as Strategy: The Indirect Approach (London: Faber and Faber, 1954), extracted in Gerard Chaliand, ed., T he Art of War in World History: From Antiquity to the Nuclear Age (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1994), pp. 927–931. University of California Press, for Schelling, Thomas C., A rms and Infl uence (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1966), pp. 1–34, extracted in Gerard Chaliand, ed., The Art of War in World History: From Antiquity to the Nuclear Age (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1994), pp. 1013–1022. M IT Press, for Byman, Daniel L. and Waxman, Matthew C., “Kosovo and the Great Air Power Debate,” I nternational Security , 24 (4) (spring 2000), pp. 5–38. © 2000 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Acknowledgements ix T aylor and Francis, for Jervis, Robert, “What’s Wrong with the Intelligence Process?,” International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence , 1(1) (1986), pp. 28–41. T aylor and Francis, for Maiolo, Joseph A., “Deception and Intelligence Failure: Anglo- German Preparations for U-boat Warfare in the 1930s,” Journal of Strategic Studies, 22(4) (1999), pp. 55–76. Houghton Miffl in Harcourt, for Brodie, Bernard (ed.), T he Absolute Weapon: Atomic Power and World Order . © 1946 by Yale Institute of International Studies. Copyright © renewed 1974 by Yale Concilium on International and Area Studies. Used by permis- sion of Houghton Miffl in Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. F oreign Affairs, for Wohlstetter, Albert, “The Delicate Balance of Terror.” Reprinted by permission of Foreign Affairs, 37(2), pp. 211–234. © 1959 by the Council on Foreign Relations, Inc. www.ForeignAffairs.com . T aylor and Francis, for Kreps, Sarah and Fuhrmann, Matthew, “Attacking the Atom: Does Bombing Nuclear Facilities Affect Proliferation?,” The Journal of Strategic Studies , 34(2) (April 2011), pp. 161–187. U niversity of California Press, for Lawrence, T.E., “Guerrilla,” reproduced in Gerard Chaliand, ed., The Art of War in World History: From Antiquity to the Nuclear Age , pp. 880–890. Taylor and Francis, for Neumann, Peter R. and Smith, Michael L.R., “Strategic Terrorism: The Framework and its Fallacies,” The Journal of Strategic Studies 28(4) (August 2005), pp. 571–595. N ational Defense University, for Hoffman, Frank G., “Hybrid Warfare and Challenges, ” Joint Force Quarterly (2009), pp. 34–48. M IT Press, for Mahnken, Thomas G., “Weapons: The Growth and Spread of the Precision-Strike Regime,” Daedalus , 140 (3) (summer 2011), pp. 45–57. © 2011 by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. T aylor and Francis, for Newmyer Deal, Jacqueline, “The Revolution in Military Affairs with Chinese Characteristics,” T he Journal of Strategic Studies , 33(4) (August 2010), pp. 481–504. Taylor and Francis, for Bukkvoll, Tor, “Iron Cannot Fight: The Role of Technology in Current Russian Military Theory,” The Journal of Strategic Studies, 34(5) (October 2011), pp. 681–706.