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U.S. Army War College >> Strategic Studies Institute >> Publications >> Categorical Confusion? The Strategic Implications of Recognizing Challenges Either as Irregular or Traditional
U.S. Army War College >> Strategic Studies Institute >> Publications >> Details
Authored by Dr. Colin S. Gray.
Strategic theory should educate to enable effective strategic practice, but much of contemporary theory promotes confusion, not clarity, of suitable understanding. A little strategic theory goes a long way, at least it does if it is austere and focused on essentials. Unfortunately, contemporary strategic conceptualization in the U.S. defense community is prolix, over-elaborate, and it confuses rather than clarifies. Recent debate about irregular, as contrasted allegedly with traditional, challenges to U.S. national security have done more harm than good. Conceptualization of and for an operational level of war can imperil the truly vital nexus between strategy and tactics. In much the same way, the invention of purportedly distinctive categories of challenge endangers the relationship between general theory for statecraft, war, and strategy, and strategic and tactical practice for particular historical cases. It is not helpful to sort challenges into supposedly distinctive categories. But, if such categorization proves politically or bureaucratically unavoidable, its potential for harm can be reduced by firm insistence upon the authority of the general theory of strategy.
The Future of American Landpower: Does Forward Presence Still Matter? The Case of the Army in Europe
Lead Me, Follow Me, Or Get Out of My Way: Rethinking and Refining the Civil-Military Relationship
The Prospects for Security Sector Reform in Tunisia: A Year After the Revolution
Hard Power and Soft Power: The Utility of Military Force as an Instrument of Policy in the 21st Century
Schools for Strategy: Teaching Strategy for 21st Century Conflict
After Iraq: The Search for a Sustainable National Security Strategy
The Implications of Preemptive and Preventive War Doctrines: A Reconsideration
Irregular Enemies and the Essence of Strategy: Can the American Way of War Adapt?
Recognizing and Understanding Revolutionary Change in Warfare: The Sovereignty of Context
Transformation and Strategic Surprise
Maintaining Effective Deterrence
Military Strategy and Policy
War and Society
National Security Strategy