Strategy: The Logic of War and Peace: The Logic of War and Peace, Revised and Enlarged Edition - Softcover

Luttwak, En

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0674007034 ISBN 13: 9780674007031

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2002

Synopsis

"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.

About this title

Review:

A tour de force, brilliant...�Luttwak� has tried to demystify matters military, renouncing its jargon and macho banalities, and making it accessible to anyone willing to read--and to think. -- Leonard Bushkoff "Christian Science Monitor" If Edward Luttwak does not always persuade, he always provokes. In this superb book, one that will become a classic of strategy, he does both...His definitions of five levels of strategy are enriching and his historical examples fascinating.--Gregory F. Treverton "Foreign Affairs " A tour de force, brilliant...[Luttwak] has tried to demystify matters military, renouncing its jargon and macho banalities, and making it accessible to anyone willing to read--and to think.--Leonard Bushkoff "Christian Science Monitor " Fascinating...Luttwak succeeds admirably in revealing the complex and invariably contradictory relationship between the various levels of strategic action; our grasp of the "process" of conflict is correspondingly enhanced and the reader left properly skeptical about claims that his or that technical innovation will provide an ultimate and foolproof defense. Luttwak's achievement is therefore considerable: Like his mentor Clausewitz he has recognized that the study of war cannot be subject to the 'intellectual codification used in the [mechanical] arts and sciences.' Rather, it requires philosophical rigour and historical understanding of a kind rarely found in the narrow, ahistorical world of the scenario builder. These intellectual virtues are abundantly present in this book, and teacher and student alike can only benefit from a close reading and assessment of its central hypothesis.--J. E. Spence "Times Higher Education Supplement " Luttwak's...purpose is to make us think about what to all too many Americans has become the unthinkable. And here he has succeeded magnificently. For peacemakers and warmakers alike, "Strategy: The Logic of War and Peace" is essential reading.--Harry G. Summers, Jr. "New York Times Book Review " "Luttwak's...purpose is to make us think about what to all too many Americans has become the unthinkable. And here he has succeeded magnificently. For peacemakers and warmakers alike, "Strategy: The Logic of War and Peace" is essential reading." --Harry G. Summers, Jr., "New York Times Book Review" "Fascinating...Luttwak succeeds admirably in revealing the complex and invariably contradictory relationship between the various levels of strategic action; our grasp of the "process" of conflict is correspondingly enhanced and the reader left properly skeptical about claims that his or that technical innovation will provide an ultimate and foolproof defense. Luttwak's achievement is therefore considerable: Like his mentor Clausewitz he has recognized that the study of war cannot be subject to the 'intellectual codification used in the [mechanical] arts and sciences.' Rather, it requires philosophical rigour and historical understanding of a kind rarely found in the narrow, ahistorical world of the scenario builder. These intellectual virtues are abundantly present in this book, and teacher and student alike can only benefit from a close reading and assessment of its central hypothesis." --J. E. Spence, "Times Higher Education Supplement" "If Edward Luttwak does not always persuade, he always provokes. In this superb book, one that will become a classic of strategy, he does both...His definitions of five levels of strategy are enriching and his historical examples fascinating." --Gregory F. Treverton, "Foreign Affairs" "A tour de force, brilliant...[Luttwak] has tried to demystify matters military, renouncing its jargon and macho banalities, and making it accessible to anyonewilling to read--and to think." --Leonard Bushkoff, "Christian Science Monitor" "Knowledgeable, historically informed, acid, blunt. Like or dislike Luttwak's merciless style, agree or disagree with his uninhibited judgments, his book is an immense contribution to the understanding of strategy--the interplay of adversaries that threaten or use force to resolve their conflicts." --Thomas C. Schelling, Harvard University

Synopsis:

If you want peace, prepare for war. A build-up 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 revised and expanded work, 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 reveals the ultimate logic of military failure and success, of war and peace.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0674007034
• ISBN 13: 9780674007031
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 308