The Levels of Warfare, Part 3: Operational ArtAs we saw in Part 2, strategy and tactics had acquired more-or-less well-defined meanings by the beginning of the 19th century. Tactics referred to actions in battle, strategy to the large-scale maneuvers of a campaign—a simple two-part division of all warfare, further subdivided…
The Levels of Warfare, Part 2: The Birth of Tactics and StrategyWe left off in part 1 in late antiquity with the Strategikon, which marked a shift in ancient military thought. Classical antiquity held tactics to mean the arrangement of soldiers for battle, one of the skills which made up strategy, meaning generalship more broadly. By the end…
The Levels of Warfare, Part 4: Operational ConfusionOperational art has had a troubled life in the English-speaking world. Although the concept has existed since the beginning of the 20th century, American officers did not come to it until the 1970s. This was the period of post-Vietnam reorientation toward conventional war with…
The Levels of Warfare, Part 1: The Ancient LegacyAmong the most enduring innovations of 18th-century theory was the division of warfare into the formal levels of tactics and strategy. This has influenced our understanding of war, the division of command, and how military objectives should be selected—it is one of the most…
The Bazaar of War
The Bazaar of War
The Bazaar of War
bazaarofwar.substack.com
The Bazaar of War
Warfare, Past and Present
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