The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World - Hardcover

Smith, Rupert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0713998369 ISBN 13: 9780713998368

Publisher: Allen Lane, 2005

Synopsis

Why do we use military force to solve our political problems? And why do our forces win the military battles but this fails to solve those problems? It is because the force used lacks utility. From Iraq to the Balkans, and from Afghanistan to Chechneya, over the past fifteen years there has been a steady stream of military interventions that have not delivered on their promise for peace, or even political resolution. The Utility of Force explains this anomaly at the heart of our current international system. Reaching back to Napoleon and ahead to our future, this book fundamentally changes the way to understand war.

About this title

Review:

[This is] a book that will assure Smith's reputation as a serious and original thinker among soldiers and strategists. -- John Keegan, The Daily Telegraph

About the Author:

General Sir Rupert Smith is one of the most senior international practitioners in the use of force. In his forty year career in the British Army he commanded the UK Armoured Division in the 1990-91 Gulf War, was GOC Northern Ireland, commanded the UN forces in Bosnia in 1995, and served as Deputy Commander of NATO. All of this experience informs his book. He retired in 2002.

About this edition

• Publisher: Allen Lane
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0713998369
• ISBN 13: 9780713998368
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 448