Levels of Conflict and Modes of Military Power

Question 1

Peter Paret, “The Genesis of On War,”
Michael Howard, “The Influence of
Clausewitz,”
Bernard Brodie, “The Continuing Influence of On War”

Answer 1

i. Clausewitz’s work remains relevant in today’s nuclear age

Question 2

Michael Howard

“The Forgotten Dimensions of Strategy”

Answer 2

i. In this article, the author explained that war is conducted along four
dimensions: the operational, the logistical, the social, and the technological. Successful strategy requires taking into account of all of these dimensions, but under different circumstances, one or another might dominate. Howard pointed out that during the American Civil War, the North’s victory was not due to the operational capabilities of its generals, but to its capacity to mobilize its superior industrial strength and manpower into armies. Ultimately, he observed, the logistical dimension of strategy proved more significant than the operational. Author argued that the West should transform its strategy so that social aspect and conventional forces should not be ignored.
ii. The West depends on technological aspect and ignores social aspect. However Soviets cared about social aspect and act as if they didn’t. Possibility of a conventional war should be taken into account and logistical capabilities should be developed accordingly. Any possible war would begin with the engagement of armed forces in Europe. Social
factors would determine the result. Finally we should pray that the
nuclear powers could continue to avoid nuclear war.

Question 3

Nuclear Deterrence

Answer 3

Conventional Deterrence - Employing the threat of overwhelming force to prevent an enemy from launching an attack against your country.

• Was turned on its head during the nuclear age because defense was no longer the best deterrence and in fact became a destabilizing factor in bi-lat nuclear relations
• Some offensive weapons actually became stabilizing
• This ran counter to Jervis and his traditional view of deterrence

Question 4

Nuclear Deterrence - Counter-Value Weapons

Answer 4

Stabilizing offensive nuclear weapons in the international system

• These weapons targeted civilian and infrastructure in the enemy’s country
• Were stabilizing because of the concept of MAD. If both sides could completely destroy the population base of the other country then neither side had an advantage
• Stabilizing only when a second strike capability was ensured

Question 5

Nuclear Deterrence - Counter-Force Weapons

Answer 5

Destabilizing offensive nuclear weapons in the international system

• These weapons target the other side’s nuclear force with the goal of preventing an overwhelming second strike capability
• Destabilizing because they could potentially disrupt MAD by allowing one side to prevent the other from having a second strike capability

Question 6

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) - Sufficiency

Answer 6

MAD - Cold War logic that both the Soviet Union and the US could destroy each other with nuclear weapons no matter what the other side did because of their mutual ability to absorb a first strike and launch a devastating second strike

• The logic of MAD is a cost-benefit rationale: I convince you and you convince me that we can’t win because of this we look at all attacks in the rational cost-benefits way
• Assumption that both the US and USSR accepted this logic

Question 7

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) - Star Wars

Answer 7

Proposed program by Pres. Reagan to build a space based ICBM intercept system to actually enable defense in a nuclear war. This is where the concept of defense becoming destablizing to a nuclear age international system comes into play because the USSR had focused on creating counter-force ICMBs and then SDI comes along and that advantage would be gone.

• Concept was defense is possible
• The orthodoxy said that defense in a nuke war was impossible because there were just too many warheads