Modern Strategy / Edition 1

by Colin S. Gray

Overview

Modern Strategy explains the permanent nature, but ever changing character, of strategy in light of the whole strategic experience of the twentieth century. The book is a major contribution to the general theory of strategy; it makes sense of the strategic history of the twentieth century, and provides understanding of what that strategic history implies for the century to come.

The book offers a uniquely comprehensive analysis of the different facets of modern strategy. The classic writings of Carl von Clausewitz are reconsidered for their continuing relevance, while possible successors are appraised. In addition to arguing that Clausewitz figured out what strategy was, and how it worked, the book probes deeply into strategy's political, ethical, and cultural dimension. The book explains how strategic behaviour in the twentieth century has expanded from the two-dimensional world of the land and the surface of the sea, to include the ocean depths, the air, space, and most recently the 'cyberspace' environments. It also offers details analyses both of nuclear matters and of the realm of irregular violence.

This is the first comprehensive account of all aspects of modern strategy since the Cold War ended and will be essential reading for all students of modern strategy and security studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198782513
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/18/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	426
Product dimensions:	9.68(w) x 6.86(h) x 0.88(d)
Lexile:	1630L (what's this?)

About the Author

Colin Gray is Professor of International Politics and Director of the Centre for Security Studies at the University of Hull. He is the author of numerous books on strategy, including The Navy in the Post-Cold War World: The Uses and Value of Strategic Sea (1994), Explorations in Strategy (2nd edn, 1998), and The Second Nuclear Age (forthcoming 1999).

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Expanding Universe of StrategyThe Dimensions of StrategyStrategy, Politics, EthicsStrategist's Toolkit: The Clausewitzian LegacyThe Poverty of Modern Strategic ThoughtStrategic Culture as ContextWindows on WarPatterns in Strategic ExperienceThe Grammar of Strategy I: Terrestrial ActionThe Grammar of Strategy II: Altitude and ElectronsSmall Wars and other Savage ViolenceSecond Thoughts on Nuclear WeaponsNuclear Weapons in Strategic HistoryStrategy Eternal