“Ways of War” The Praxis of Force

1. “Ways of War”The Praxis of Force S6010 Week 8 Ho Shu Huang

2. Introduction: Why Bother about the Past? (1/2) • Doesn’t the present-day RMA look at the present and towards the future? • Present: This is the first “self-conscious” RMA • Future: RMA is motivated by technology, which anticipates the future, rather than reacts to the past? • Back to where we started: Revisiting Richard Krepinevich’s definition of an RMA

3. Introduction: Why Bother about the Past? (2/2) Military revolutions comprise four elements: technological change, systems development, operational innovation, and organizational adaptation … In particular, while advances in technology typically underwrite a military revolution, they alone do not constitute the revolution. The phenomenon is much broader in scope and consequence than technological innovation, however dramatic. RichardKrepinevich • Factors are all dependent on an institution’s culture, which is in turn shaped by its heritage that is derived from its collective past

4. Scope • What is the Western Way of Warfare? • Is there an American Way of Warfare? • Is there a Non-Western Way of Warfare? • Are there superior forms of warfare? • Conclusion: Humility as the best “Way of Warfare”

5. What is the Western Way of Warfare? (1/4) • Christopher Coker: Legacy of Greece and the societal norms it created • Humanism • Vitality • Systems • Expression of ideas

6. What is the Western Way of Warfare? (2/4) • Victor Davis Hanson: “Superior culture” • Western success because of “cultural heritage” • Philosophy and means to fight • Militaries institutionalise courage, discipline and know-how • Technology provides the tools and endurance

7. What is the Western Way of Warfare? (3/4) • The Western Way of War • Systematic • Technological • Hiram Maxim’s friend: He should “invent something that will allow the Europeans to cut each other’s throats with greater facility.” • Amoral • Ideological • Extension of state politics, for the betterment of the “nation” as a whole, not individuals. • Yet, a way to express individual character, and build it. • Intense and absolute

8. What is the Western Way of Warfare? (4/4) • Future of the “Western Way of War” • None, because it may cease to exist? • Keegan: Economically, war does not make sense • John Mueller’s analogy with slavery • Christopher Coker: “Death of the Warrior Tradition” • None, because nuclear weapons have brought it to a dead-end? • Christopher Coker: Rejection of war as “an instrument of policy” (dispassionate activity, an occupation) and a return to war as “life defining” (values and beliefs, what makes living your life worth-while) • Post-Human War

9. Is there an American Way of Warfare? (1/5) • 1973: Russel Weigley’s The American Way of War • Primarily interested in achieving a crushing military victory over an opponent • War as an alternative to diplomacy, as opposed to being an intrinsic part • Focused on winning war (sum of battles) militarily than winning the war (politically)

10. Is there an American Way of Warfare? (2/5) • “Way of Battle” VS “Way of War?” Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. President George Bush 1 May 2003

11. Is there an American Way of Warfare? (3/5) • 2003: Arthur K. Cebrowski and Thomas P.M. Barnett’s The American Way of War • American Way = RMA • “The Networking of American Warfare” • “The Speed of American Warfare” • “The Precision of American Warfare” • “The Transformation of American Warfare” (Technology, technology and more technology) • “The ultimate attribute of the emerging American Way of War is the superempowerment of the war fighter … ”

12. Is there an American Way of Warfare? (4/5) • 2004: Antulio J. Echevarria II’s Toward An American Way of War • Updates Weigley’s argument: Americans still do not yet have a way of war, just a way of battle. • Intellectual/political obstacles: • Division of labour that ignores war as “an instrument of policy” • RMA, as a technological movement, is the “new American style of warfare” • Direction of the Office of the Secretary of Defence

13. Is there an American Way of Warfare? (5/5) • 2004: Antulio J. Echevarria II’s Toward An American Way of War • To move towards a clear “Way of War”, • [Theory] America needs to fundamentally rethink: • Civilian/Military Leadership • John A. Nagl: Organisational culture, and resistance to change • Idea of “Victory” • [Practice] American needs to reassess: • The nature of civil-military relations • Barry Posen, Deborah Avant: Civil Military relations • Practical resources required to translate “military victory” into “strategic success”

14. What are the Non-Western Ways of Warfare? (1/2) • Keegan: War as culture • War as a way of life. War makes society (in every sense of the word): “War is an expression of culture, often a determinant of cultural forms, in some societies the culture itself” • The Levantine / Islamic Way • Based on an unreformed fundamentalist interpretation of religion • Emphasis on Martyrdom and willingness to die for the cause • Physically and mentally hardy in the face of brutality and deprivation • The Chinese Way • War as a necessary evil: Keep it as short as possible? • Best way to win is to win without fighting? • Undermining an enemy’s will VS imposing your own on the enemy’s • Asymmetric tactics • Mao’s Peoples War of Guerrilla warfare

15. What are the Non-Western Ways of Warfare? (2/2) • Does it matter? • Is there really a distinct non-Western Way of Warfare? • Why fight? • Means to fight • Knowledge of how to fight • Just the localisation of the Western Way of Warfare? • Adapted for local conditions and populations

16. Are there superior forms of Warfare? (1/6) • Is the Western Way of Warfare the best? • YES: • Deterrence • The image of complex capability can sufficiently deter an enemy • Eg. 3G SAF

17. Are there superior forms of Warfare? (2/6) • Is the Western Way of Warfare the best? • YES: • Symbolism – The West as the “Gold-standard” • An image of modernity: “You have arrived” • John Ellis’s The Social History of the Machine Gun & Jacques Hymans’s The Psychology of Nuclear Proliferation: Identity, Emotions and Foreign Policy • Symbolised the triumph of Western society over the rest of the world

18. Are there superior forms of Warfare? (3/6) What ever happens we have got The Maxim Gun, and they have not Helaire Belloc

19. Are there superior forms of Warfare? (4/6) Brethren! Oh! be not afraid Heaven your Christian work will aid; Banish all your doubts and tears, Rifles cannot fail 'gainst spears. Take your banner! Onward go! Christian soldiers, seek your foe, And the devil to refute, Do not hesitate to shoot. Satirical Hymn from the late 19th Century

20. Are there superior forms of Warfare? (5/6) • Is the Western Way of Warfare the best? • NO: • [Spain], Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon • Asymmetric Warfare • Basic questions: • Why do you fight? • What do you have to fight with? • Ends determine the means • Michael Raska’s chart

21. Are there superior forms of Warfare? (6/6)

22. Conclusion: Humility as the best “Way of Warfare”? (1/3) • Then & Now: Technology as the ideal “Way of Warfare”? Tools, or weapons, if only the right ones can be discovered, form 99 percent of victory.... Strategy, command, leadership, courage, discipline, supply, organization, and all the moral and physical paraphernalia of war are nothing to a high superiority of weapons—at most they go to form the one per cent which makes the whole possible. J.F.C. Fuller Armament And History 1945

23. Conclusion: Humility as the best “Way of Warfare”? (2/3) • Self-first: Humility and introspection • Lesson of Isandlwana, Anglo-Zulu War, 22 Jan 1879

24. Conclusion: Humility as the best “Way of Warfare”? (3/3) • Self-first: Humility and introspection • “Despise Not Your Enemy” • Sun Tzu: “Know thy enemy, know thyself, know victory”? • You can be your own worst enemy