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Officers who participated in the Advanced Strategic Art Program (ASAP) during their year at the U.S. Army War College wrote these chapters. The ASAP is a unique program that offers selected students a rigorous course of instruction in theater strategy. Solidly based in theory, doctrine, and history, the program provides these students a rich professional experience that includes staff rides, exercises, and the best instructional expertise available. The program is designed to provide the joint community with the military's best theater strategists. The challenges facing the defense establishment in the United States at the beginning of the 21st century are daunting indeed; however, the thoughtful essays included in this volume--including two award winners--representing some of the thinking by students at the U.S. Army War College, provide insights into these trials that will prove useful to policymakers both in and out of uniform. ; https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1086/thumbnail.jpg

The U.S. Army is now in the process of transforming itself to meet security interests and the need for land power that span the globe, now and in the future. The following essays are representative of current thinking at the U.S. Army War College by students considering the nature and direction of this transformation. Dr. Williamson Murray s introduction sets the historical context for military transformation, comparing the modern European example with recent U.S. efforts in military innovation. The remaining essays address four themes: the nature of the transformed Army, building irreversible momentum for transformation, improving strategic responsiveness, and how to achieve transformation in key areas. ; https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1108/thumbnail.jpg

The U.S. Army is now in the process of transforming itself to meet security interests and the need for land power that span the globe, now and in the future. The following essays are representative of current thinking at the U.S. Army War College by students considering the nature and direction of this transformation. Dr. Williamson Murray s introduction sets the historical context for military transformation, comparing the modern European example with recent U.S. efforts in military innovation. The remaining essays address four themes: the nature of the transformed Army, building irreversible momentum for transformation, improving strategic responsiveness, and how to achieve transformation in key areas. ; https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1058/thumbnail.jpg

This edited volume focuses on civil-military relations before and during great power conflicts, and comprises historical case studies of modern supreme leadership. It aims to provide a guide for the future by shining a light on what worked and what failed in the civil-military relationships that steered great powers during the last era of rapid global change. While future civil-military relationships will have to adapt to the current global environment, the past remains, as always, a prelude. Thus, crucial concepts that underpin all such relationships are eternal and are waiting to be drawn out by historians trained to examine and present them to those who can put them to immediate good use. This volume demonstrates the relevance of history in every chapter, as readers will see parallels to today's problems throughout every case study. The world is entering an age of great challenges, many of which require nations - particularly the most powerful - to establish civil-military relationships capable of navigating dangerous currents without a repeat of the calamities reminiscent of the last century. Each chapter focuses on a particular civil-military relationship as it developed before and during a great war.

Introduction -- A framework for war -- Hannibal and Scipio -- Caesar and Pompey -- Richard I and Saladin -- Napoléon and Wellington -- Grant and Lee -- Rommel, Montgomery, and Patton -- Conclusion: Modern warfare and the system of genius -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Index.

Two modern masters of military history make their case for the twenty most pivotal battles of all time, in a riveting trip through the ages to those moments when the fate of the world hung in the balance. In the grand tradition of Edward Creasy's classic Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World, James Lacey and Williamson Murray spotlight only those engagements that changed the course of civilization. In gripping narrative accounts they bring these conflicts and eras to vivid life, detailing the cultural imperatives that led inexorably to the battlefield, the experiences of the common soldiers who fought and died, and the legendary commanders and statesmen who matched wits, will, and nerve for the highest possible stakes. From the great clashes of antiquity to the high-tech wars of the twenty-first century, here are the stories of the twenty most consequential battles ever fought, including Marathon, where Greece's "greatest generation" repelled Persian forces three times their numbers-and saved Western civilization in its infancy Adrianople, the death blow to a disintegrating Roman Empire Trafalgar, the epic naval victory that cemented a century of British supremacy over the globe Saratoga, the first truly American victory, won by united colonial militias, which ensured the ultimate triumph of the Revolution Midway, the ferocious World War II sea battle that broke the back of the Japanese navy Dien Bien Phu, the climactic confrontation between French imperial troops and Viet Minh rebels that led to American intervention in Vietnam and marked the rise of a new era of insurgent warfare Operation Peach, the perilous 2003 mission to secure a vital bridge over the Euphrates River that would open the way to Baghdad Historians and armchair generals will argue forever about which battles have had the most direct impact on history. But there

The Peace of Nicias / Paul H. Rahe -- "A swift and sure peace": the Congress of Westphalia 1643-1648 / Derek Croxton and Geoffrey Parker -- The Peace of Paris, 1763 / Fred Anderson -- In search of military repose: the Congress of Vienna and the making of peace / Richard Hart Sinnreich -- War and peace in the post-Civil War South / James M. McPherson -- Vae victoribus: Bismarck's quest for peace in the Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871 / Marcus Jones -- Versailles: the peace without a chance / Williamson Murray -- "Building buffers and filling vacuums": Great Britain and the Middle East, 1914-1922 / John Gooch -- Mission improbable, fear, culture, and interest: peace making, 1943-1949 / Colin Gray -- The economic making of peace / James Lacey -- Ending the Cold War / Frederick W. Kagan

The subjects covered in this collection will appeal to a range of scholars, specialists, and general readers. The contributions of the Japanese scholars will not go unnoticed either for they draw on many primary sources in Japan that have yet to be translated into English and therefore offer a unique perspective on the events and individuals discussed in the essays. By focusing on both the US and Japan, this work provides easy access to the competing perspectives of the two nations, a competition that is enhanced by examinations of individuals and events, which have often been overlooked. Th

The Making of Peace represents a fascinating contribution to the study of war: namely, the difficulties that statesmen have confronted in attempting to put back together the pieces after a major conflict. These essays examine how Western belligerents have addressed – or failed to address – the making of peace across a span of two and a half millennia and in contests reflecting a broad range of prompting disputes. Some efforts produced at best a momentary suspension of hostilities. Others transformed the very context of international relations. Defined more modestly, however, as the control and moderation of violence, some peacemaking efforts were notably more successful than others. This study also serves as a first draft of a guide for those who will confront the equally difficult task of maintaining the peace, once achieved. It contains path-breaking essays by leading historians of the United States and the United Kingdom