عنوان

Fighting talk :

(Number (ISBN

0275991318

(Number (ISBN

9780275991319

Number

b727555

Title Proper

Fighting talk :

General Material Designation

[Book]

Other Title Information

forty maxims on war, peace, and strategy /

First Statement of Responsibility

Colin S. Gray.

Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.

Westport, Conn. :

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

Praeger Security International,

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2007.

Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item

xvi, 190 pages ;

Dimensions

25 cm

Text of Note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 179-185) and index.

Text of Note

pt. 1. War and peace. The contexts of war are all important -- War is about peace, and peace can be about war -- It is more difficult to make peace than it is to make war -- War works!-but always has unintended and unanticipated consequences -- Peace and order are not self-enforcing, they have to be organized and kept by somebody -- Not only polities, but societies and their cultures make war and peace -- Reason reigns over war, but passion and chance threaten to rule -- There is more to war than warfare -- Policy is king, but often is ignorant of the nature and character of war -- War is always a gamble -- pt. 2. Strategy. Knowledge of strategy is vital: the flame of strategic understanding has to be kept lit -- Strategy is more difficult than policy or tactics -- Bad strategy kills, but so also do bad policy and tactics -- If Thucydides, Sun-Tzu, and Clausewitz did not say it, it probably is not worth saying -- The strategic "concept du jour" will be tomorrow's stale left-over, until it is rediscovered, recycled, and revealed as a new truth -- The enemy too has a vote -- Time is the least forgiving dimension of strategy -- Friction is unavoidable, but need not be fatal -- All strategy is geostrategy: geography is fundamental -- Strategy is not wholly military -- The impossible is impossible; it is a condition, not a problem for which a solution has yet to be found -- pt. 3. Military power and warfare. People matter most -- Military power is trumps in politics -- Military excellence can only be verified by performance in war -- Military excellence cannot guarantee strategic success -- Victory in battle does not ensure strategic or political success, but defeat all but guarantees failure -- There is more to war than firepower: the enemy is not just a target set -- Logistics is the arbiter of strategic opportunity -- pt. 4. Security and insecurity. Bad times return -- There are always thugs, villains, rogues, and fools out there, as well some in here, who mean us harm -- Super-threats do appear -- Prudence is the supreme virtue in statecraft and strategy -- Strategic history punishes good intentions -- Defense costs are certain, but security benefits are uncertain and arguable -- Arms can be controlled, but not by arms control -- pt. 5. History and the future. Nothing of real importance changes: modern history is not modern -- History can be misused to "prove" anything, but it is all that we have as a guide to the future -- The future is not foreseeable: nothing dates so rapidly as today's tomorrow -- Surprise is unavoidable, but its effect is not -- Tragedy happens.

0

International Standard Book Number

0275991318

Military art and science, Quotations, maxims, etc.

Strategy, Quotations, maxims, etc.

War, Quotations, maxims, etc.

Military art and science.

Strategy.

War.

Number

Edition

Class number

Book number

Gray, Colin S.

Date of Transaction

20201214004002.0

Electronic name

[Book]

Y