Actually, Military Strategy Is Like Battleship

Game Theory -- John Arquilla, Foreign Policy

Actually, military strategy is like Battleship.

In the final candidates' debate last week, President Obama delivered a telling, somewhat snarky zinger in response to Governor Romney's call for naval expansion: "This isn't ‘Battleship.'" He then went on to school Romney about how having some aircraft carriers and submarines means we don't need more ships. The governor had no adequate reply.

But the fact of the matter is that the old "Battleship" board game -- not the more recent movie flop that was somehow based on it -- offers exactly the right metaphor to describe strategic affairs in the information age. "Battleship" does so by capturing the distilled essence of naval operations today: the hider/finder dynamic.

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My Comment: I completely agree with this author's analysis .... read it all. And yes .... as a kid .... I loved playing Battleship.

Ten Books That Are Better Than The Art Of War

Guerrilla Lit 101: Ten Books That Are Better Than The Art Of War -- John Arquilla, Foreign Policy

West Point's recently released list of the top 10 military classics is replete with doorstop-sized accounts of conflict from ancient to relatively modern times -- but almost completely neglects insurgency, terrorism, and other forms of irregular warfare. The U.S. Military Academy's list does a fine job of capturing the "horizontal" dynamic of clashes of roughly equal great powers armed with the most advanced weapons. But the history and shape of the world system have been just as influenced by the "vertical" axis -- the unequal struggles that have seen guerrillas, bandits, and commandos waging "wars of the knife" against empires and nations. And it is this latter mode of conflict that has dominated world affairs for the past half-century -- and will likely do so for at least a century to come.

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My Comment: An impressive list of books .... now I wish had the time to read and study them.

Lebanon Lessons Learned, or Not

Stryker Soldiers with Company B, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, roll through a village heading towards Baqubah, March 13. The 5-20 Inf. Reg. of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, arrived in the Diyala province to help maintain the momentum against insurgents that was gained in recent large-scale operations by the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, from Fort Hood, Texas. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Antonieta Rico, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment). Hat Tip Blackfive.

From New Wars:

This article from the Washington Post titled Short ‘06 Lebanon War Stokes Pentagon Debate concerns the US Army’s evaluation of the recent Israeli/Hezbollah war, and how it should shape future force structures:

U.S. military experts were stunned by the destruction that Hezbollah forces, using sophisticated antitank guided missiles, were able to wreak on Israeli armor columns. Unlike the guerrilla forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, who employed mostly hit-and-run tactics, the Hezbollah fighters held their ground against Israeli forces in battles that stretched as long as 12 hours. They were able to eavesdrop on Israeli communications and even struck an Israeli ship with a cruise missile.

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My Comment: I always enjoy reading "New Wars" analysis of past conflicts to present ones. He does not disappoint in this post.