Book Review: “The Clausewitz Delusion”, by Stephen Melton

"If the wits are right in dubbing Proust the world's most quoted and least read novelist, Clausewitz must be his non-fiction counterpart". That's what Richard Simpkin said about the popular understanding of On War, AKA “the” theory of war by Clausewitz. A lot of "the" theory of war is no longer relevant, Melton says, at least not the parts that the US Army has chosen to incorporate into its doctrine. The Clausewitz Delusion is a soul-searching tour de force on how and why the US Army came to its current struggle to achieve decisive victories in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the author the US Army, in its decades-long infatuation with Clausewitz’s On War, has forgotten what it once knew and now lacks “a sufficient understanding of the nature of warfare at the strategic, operational and tactical levels”.  “What the US Army once knew” is one of the masterfully delivered, extensively documented key concepts in this book and the chosen point of departure for the discussion of future doctrine. Melton calls for a return to the good old and successful American way of war and to stop enshrining the old writings of the famed Prussian. Clausewitz "could learn more from us than we could ever learn from him".

Modern Military Thinkers: John Boyd

John Boyd had both the mind of the bold, daring soldier who never surrenders and that of a brilliant scholar whose thirst for truth uncovers new patterns in places where nobody thought there was anything else to question.

He is known mostly for his "observation, orientation, decision, action" loop (OODA loop). This is unfortunate because his contributions are as wide-ranging as the ones from titans like Clausewitz. It is also unfortunate because OODA is not a loop but rather a cycle. But anyway, most people's knowledge of Clausewitz doesn't go farther than "war is the continuation of politics by other means".

As I'm doing with every military thinker I post about, I will leave the task of exploring Boyd's theories to my readers. A little warning, you are in for a wild ride.

One of the spin-offs from Boyd's thinking is the so-called maneuver warfare, which was adopted by the US Marine Corps as a doctrinal framework. There is also a movement leaded by Chet Richards, that applies Boyd's thinking to business.


Boyd never wrote a book. His preferred way of exposing ideas were his legendary briefings, which lasted half a day. The text of these briefings can be found in the web. Frank Osinga recently published a book which is the ultimate analysis of Boyd's theories: "Science, Strategy and War". This book is a bit pricey from Amazon and I would rather recommend the print-on-demand service from Routledge.






One of the things that impressed me in Osinga's book is his analysis of the context in which Boyd formulated his ideas. According to Osinga, Boyd's experiences as a fighter pilot, his self education and the scientific ambiance contemporary to his studies are important to understand his theories. I also recommend the biographical book by Robert Coram "Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War".





Cheers,

Contemporary Military Thinkers: Martin van Creveld

Dr. van Creveld's contributions to the study of human conflict cover a wide range of military and political matters.

His most-recognized books, "The Transformation of War" and "Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton", are included in the US Army Officer's required reading list.

Showing an amazing erudition in military history, van Creveld puts forward not only new and exciting ideas on how to analyze the historical facts, but also his view on how previous analysis need revision. Not even the mighty Clausewitz escapes from scrutiny.

One of his books I think is under-rated in popularity and importance. In "The Rise and Decline of the State", van Creveld proposes that the sovereign state as we know it in modern societies has outlived his usefulness. "The Rise and Decline of the State" is one of those books that shakes your axioms to the core.

His latest book "The Culture of War", is in my night stand waiting to join the other books from this author in an special section of my bookshelf reserved for the books I consult the most.

Cheers,

Contemporary Military Thinkers: William S. Lind

Mr. Lind is an outstanding scholar and military thinker. His seminal work on "third and fourth generation warfare" will be part of the study of warfare for generations to come.

While I don't subscribe to his cultural conservatism and immigration views (I am an immigrant to the US from Argentina, legal immigrant if you are reading this, Mr. Lind : ) ), his articles on military matters are visionary.

His book Maneuver Warfare Handbook is one of those books to which I always come back to re-read and find something I missed or haven't thought enough about.

He writes a column in the Defense and National Interest website (see it also listed in my "Blogs of Interest" section) named "On War" (link to this week's On War here).


Cheers,