War is changing. Unlike when modern military doctrine was forged, the United States no longer mobilizes massive land forces for direct political gain. Instead, the US fights small, overseas wars by global mandate to overthrow dictators, destroy terrorist groups, and broker regional peace. These conflicts hardly resemble the total wars fought and expected by foundational military theorists such as Carl von Clausewitz, yet their paradigms are ingrained in modern thinking. The twenty-first-century’s new geopolitical situation demands new principles for warfare—deemphasizing decisive land victory in favor of airpower, intelligence systems, and indigenous ground forces.
In Thoughts on War, Phillip S. Meilinger confronts the shortcomings of US military dogma in search of a new strategic doctrine. Inter-service rivalries and conventional theories failed the US in lengthy Korea, Vietnam, and Middle East conflicts. Jettisoning traditional perspectives and their focus on decisive battles, Meilinger revisits historical campaigns looking for answers to more persistent challenges—how to coordinate forces, manipulate time, and fight on two fronts. This provocative collection of new and expanded essays offers a fresh, if controversial, perspective on time-honored military values, one which encourages a critical revision of US military strategy.
สารบัญ
Busting the Icon: Restoring Balance to the Influence of Clausewitz
Is War an Instrument of Policy?
The Mutable Nature of War
Starting with a Blank Sheet: Principles of War for a New Century
Second Fronts: Success, Failure, and Implications
Decisive Victories and What They Mean
Time in War
Jointness and the Norwegian Campaign, 1940
American Military Culture and Its Influence on Strategy
Soldiers and Politics: Exposing a Myth
Unity of Command in the Pacific during World War II
Analysis, Intelligence, and Targeting in Strategic Air Operations
Determining the Effects of the Allied Air Offensive
Summation: The Emergence of a Paradigm
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Col. Phillip S. Meilinger, USAF (Ret.), served as an air force command pilot, Pentagon staff officer, Naval War College professor, Air Force Academy professor, and as dean of the School of Advanced Airpower Studies. He has been a senior analyst at Northrop Grumman as well as deputy director of the AEROSPACENTER at Science Applications International Corporation. He has published twelve books and more than one hundred articles on military history, airpower theory, and military operations, including Limiting Risk in America’s Wars: Airpower, Asymmetrics, and a New Strategic Paradigm.
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