Tag: nuclear

So the realm of strategy is one of bargaining and persuasion as well as threats and pressure, psychological as well as physical effects, and words as well as deeds. This is why strategy is the central political art. It is about getting more out of a situation than the starting balance of power would suggest. It is the art of creating power.

The book is a comprehensive history of strategy, starting from chimpanzees decision-making and going to military, business and political thought. Presented in a chronological order, the book covers all relevant points on what could be included in the topic of strategy: from nuclear war to guerilla tactics, from Cold War to deterrence strategy, from Sun Tzu to Jomini, from business Red Queen to Blue Ocean strategy, from political rational decisions to cooperation and coalition games.

The book feels like a compendium of all important ideas in this domain, describing and commenting on each of them. There is no single message of the book, but appears more like a textbook for those interested in the topic. At points it feels dry, almost academic, with long paragraphs and descriptions. Nevertheless, the ideas are presented in a clear and logic way, and chapters are flowing well one after the other.

The thinkers mentioned and analyzed are mostly American or West European, with few examples from other parts of the world, although the success of non-English thinkers or organizations is mentioned and praised. More examples to captivating theories, or some anecdotes (such as the one describing the movie Mr Smith is sent to Washington) would have elevated the book even further.

Sir Lawrence Freedman, the author of the volume, is an authority on the area, former Professor of War Studies at King’s College London, and largely considered the authority on British strategic studies.

It took me about 8 years to finish the book, which stands at about 700-plus pages, but it was always an interesting read, although slow at times, as profound ideas follow quickly one after the other, paragraph after paragraph.

A must-have book in the library for anyone interested in the topic of strategy from a political, military and business perspectives. This is a book that can stand the test of time, as it contains all influencing ideas and thinkers on strategy until early 2010s.