Colin Gray presents an inventive treatise on the nature of strategy,
war, and peace, organized around forty maxims. This collection of mini
essays will forearm politicians, soldiers, and the attentive general
public against many--probably most-- fallacies that abound in
contemporary debates about war, peace, and security. While one can never
guarantee strategic success, which depends on policy, military prowess,
and the quality of the dialogue between the two, a strategic education
led by the judgments in these maxims increases the chances that one's
errors will be small rather than catastrophic.
The maxims are grouped according to five clusters. "War and Peace"
tackles the larger issues of strategic history that drive the demand for
the services of strategic thought and practice. "Strategy" presses
further, into the realm of strategic behavior, and serves as a bridge
between the political focus of part one and the military concerns that
follow. "Military Power and Warfare" turns to the pragmatic business of
military performance: operations, tactics, and logistics. Part four,
"Security and Insecurity," examines why strategy is important, including
a discussion of the nature, dynamic character, and functioning of world
politics. Finally, "History and the Future" is meant to help strategists
better understand the processes of historical change.
