Successful Strategies
Triumphing in War and Peace from Antiquity to the Present

01st Dec 2014 by Robbo

Much has been written about strategy in the past three decades, whether it be concerned with military strategy, grand strategy, the theory of strategy, or the plethora of books advising on various forms of business strategy. Most present a rather simplistic approach, as if the key elements of a successful strategy can be per-ordained or the strategy of a successful general can be readily applied to other situations - what some call the template approach. Strategy, however, is a far more complex issue with a myriad of inputs and difficulties, as Williamson Murray demonstrated in the excellent study The Making of Strategy twenty years ago. In Successful Strategies he and Richard Hart Sinnreich have drawn together a fine group of academic historians to present a range of studies on approaches that have delivered results over several millennia, again highlighting how complex the formulation and execution of strategy is, and that perfect results are not always possible. This book is really concerned with grand strategy - the level at which governments and countries operate. In thirteen excellent essays the contributors cover a broad canvas stretching from the ancient Athens of Themistocles to the Cold War of the late 20th Century. Some cover familiar ground such as the strategy of Lincoln and Grant during the American Civil War, Bismarck’s strategy to unify the German States into a united Germany under Prussian control, and US grand strategy during the Second World War. Clifford J Rogers addresses a much less known example, presenting a fascinating study of the conquest of Wales by Edward I, employing the advice of Gerald of Wales written 82 years previously, while James Laceys “The grand strategy of the Roman Empire” covers disputed ground among Roman historians. Thomas G Mahnken’s “The Reagan administration’s strategy towards the Soviet Union ‘ supports John L. Gaddis’s comment that President Ronald Reagan was one of the sharpest grand strategists ever, which some readers may find surprising. Murray provides a fine Introduction and Sinnreich a concluding Afterword which national leaders would do well to read to top and tail the essays. This is not a book for general public, but is certainly one for those who are interested in strategy, or are students of war and politics, and should be on the reading lists of courses addressing these subjects. Each essay presents the complex nature of the subject, the myriad of factors that influence grand strategy makers for good or for worse, and provides sound advice on the elements that influence the formulation and execution of a successful strategy. However, the examples show that each country and its geography, together with contemporary situations and influences, ensures that a particular strategy is a child of its own time, and that the execution of successful strategies is a difficult but not impossible task. There are no quick fix solutions, as is often touted by self serving political leaders, but as Williamson Murray notes the serious study of history offers clear pointers to good and bad choices, and that “Beyond several decades, it is almost impossible for statesmen and military leaders to plan, and those who [do] ... disregard the complexities that human interactions inevitably involve.” If there is a common thread to strategic success the cases in this book “suggest that, at least in the short run, strategy more reliably - or at least, more recognizably - governs behaviour when authority over its formulation and execution resides in a single dominant decision maker. “

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