DOCSLIB.ORG

The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta: the Persian Challenge

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Grand Strategy of Classical Sparta: the Persian Challenge with the tools to conduct such an inquiry. who perished in the wheat-bearing land of With only a limited bibliography and a Gela; paucity of notes, however, such an in- of his noble prowess the grove of Marathon quiry would prove daunting. can speak, Despite these minor issues, Horne’s work is instructive, especially because and the long-haired Persian knows it well. of the author’s consistent reminder of the fate awaiting those who ignore the It serves as one more reminder of past. In fact, such a theme could have why the past appears to be of little use to easily taken pride of place in this work. Americans who look forward to a brave Horne’s explanation of how the Battle of new world. Tsushima, the 1940 Blitzkrieg, and the Professor Paul Rahe has directly chal- Battle of Verdun persisted as analogies lenged those assumptions that history for the Japanese at Midway, for Hitler is bunk. His Grand Strategy of Classical during Barbarossa, and for the French in Sparta is a brilliant study of Spartan strat- Indochina, respectively, shows the power egy during the Persian Wars (500 to 479 analogies wield within the mind of the BCE) that deserves to be read by those decisionmaker. In fact, Horne’s examples few still interested in the conduct of grand provide additional evidence of the power strategy and the choices, good and bad, of historical analogy, much as Yuen Foong made by leaders under the pressures of Khong described in Analogies at War. war. He has laid out the obvious as well For Horne, the arrogant not only tend to as the underlying factors that eventually ignore history, but they also are heavily The Grand Strategy of Classical led to victory on the part of the Spartans inclined to extend beyond their abilities. Sparta: The Persian Challenge and their Greek allies against the great Indeed, Horne’s six examples demonstrate By Paul A. Rahe empire of Persia. The victory of the Greek the validity of Clausewitz’s concept of a Yale University Press, 2015 states was by no means inevitable. Their culminating point and the importance $34.95, 424 pp. opponents not only had an immense of reading the strategic context correctly ISBN: 978-0300116427 superiority in numbers, but from the be- to assess when such overreach will prove ginning also possessed an advantage in the detrimental. Given the complexity of the Reviewed by Williamson Murray general disunity of the Greek city-states. strategic environment in the Pacific and Thus, it took extraordinary political and ongoing operations in the Middle East, strategic skill for a few Greek leaders to such reminders are helpful. t the end of the 20th century hold their fragile alliance together. Finally, some may find Horne’s lack of and the beginning of the 21st For Sparta, its leaders, and their any prescriptive counters to the influence century, Americans and their A strategy, the problem was both internal of hubris to be a detriment. Yet this, too, military leaders have had all too little and external. On one side, they con- is a strength. With a prescription, one sense of the importance of history and fronted a deeply hostile population of can easily fall prey to “checking the box,” too little grasp of literature on thinking helots, whom they ruled with a ruthless- all while treading the path of hubris. about strategy and the role of military ness that still echoes through the ages. Instead, Horne cautions that hubris is power in the world. In fact, in the Those helots were essential to Sparta’s insidious. While one is most vulnerable to massive assault by the literati of the military power because they provided its effects during triumphant moments, intellectual world, America’s elites have the sustenance on which the economy the pathogen lingers. Thus, an awareness come to regard the dead men of ancient and warrior polis depended, since the of its presence is, for Horne, the best Greece as thoroughly suspect and not Spartans forbade any kind of industry or medicine of all. The knowledge of hu- worthy of serious study. In that regard, trade to its warrior citizens, whose sole bris’s infectiousness and the willingness to the stele (tombstone) that marked the business was preparation for war. Not admit one’s fallibility may prove the clos- grave of the great Greek dramatist surprisingly, the Spartans confronted the est thing to an inoculation against hubris Aeschylus identifies him as a veteran of potential of massive revolt among the and its most dangerous manifestation, the pitched battle between the Persians helots, revolts that their neighbors were peripeteia. JFQ and the Athenians at Marathon in 490 more than willing to support. Thus, they BCE, with no mention of his dramatic were deeply conscious of the importance triumphs. His memorial reads: Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Sanford, USAF, is of balancing their internal dangers with currently an Operations Officer and is a graduate the external threats in the Peloponnesus. Beneath this stone lies Aeschylus, son of of the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies Against Sparta’s ancient opponent, and the Test Pilot School. Euphorion, the Athenian, 116 Book Reviews JFQ 86, 3rd Quarter 2017 Argos, they waged a series of wars over Doing battle with the Medes and crowning were largely responsible for keeping the the centuries to maintain their superiority Athens alliance together, and then in the sum- in the Peloponnesus. For the Arcadians, mer of 479 BCE, the Spartan generals the other independent Peloponnesians, Very few, awaiting and welcoming war at directed the combined force of hoplites the Spartans bound their city-states as the hands of the multitude. to a great victory that ended the Persian tightly as possible to the Spartan regime. threat to Greek freedom. As Rahe underlines, Sparta maintained The Spartans arrived late for the In the largest sense, it was the superi- a highly successful strategy “designed to battle because of a religious festival, but ority of Greek strategy that would allow keep their Argives out, the helots down, it was not due to chance. The Persians’ them to hold onto their freedom. Rahe’s and the Arcadians . in.” intelligence on the Greeks obviously history, then, is crucial because it ties the But Sparta’s strategic approach would knew the Spartans and their religious sen- pressures of war and battles to the execu- work only so long as the Peloponnesus sibilities and struck the Athenians when tion of an effective strategy. Here, both confronted no external threat. And at the the Peloponnesians would not be avail- the Spartans and the Athenians proved end of the 6th century BCE, that threat able. The same factor in Sparta’s deeply far superior to their Persian opponents. appeared with the rise of Persia and the religious commitment to its traditions oc- Rahe sums up what the Spartans and their creation of a great empire lying to the curred a decade later. As Rahe points out, allies had achieved in the following terms: east of the Aegean. Rahe’s story then is Leonidas and the 300 would go down “That an alliance of small cities . should a brilliant account of how the Spartans to defeat in 480 BCE at Thermopylae stand up to and annihilate what was argu- adapted their strategy to an entirely because the main Spartan army was ably the largest army and most formidable different world that they had ruled detained at home celebrating a religious fleet ever assembled—this was and still so successfully in the past. It is a tale of festival in the Peloponnesus. is a wonder well worthy of extended great leadership, the difficulties of mak- Ten years after Marathon, the Persians contemplation.” For those interested in ing effective grand and military strategy returned with a massive land army and understanding strategy in the real world in the face of quarrelsome allies, and the navy. Here, the alliance between the and the price that men have been willing importance of the sharp end of combat. Spartans and the Athenians would hold to pay for their freedom, this is a book The Persian threat to the Greek city- together in spite of the extraordinary dif- well worth reading. JFQ states had begun to emerge at the turn ferences in their cultures and politics. The of the 6th century BCE as the Persians Athenian Themistocles, son of Neocles, spread their control over the Middle East perhaps the greatest strategist of all time, Professor Williamson Murray is the author or editor of over 20 books, most recently A and through Anatolia toward the Aegean. had seen the danger with the greatest Savage War: A Military History of the Civil War The city-states along the western fringes perception. Well before the Persians (coauthored with Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh). of Anatolia resisted, but received insuf- moved in 480 BCE, Themistocles had ficient military aid from the Greeks in the already persuaded his fellow countrymen Western Aegean to fend the Persians off. to spend the whole windfall they had re- It was inevitable that the Persians would ceived from their silver mines at Laurium attempt to spread their power and rule to expand the Athenian fleet instead of across the Aegean into Europe. In the spending it on themselves at a time when late 490s, they moved against the Greek the Persian threat still appeared distant. city-states on the mainland of Europe. It was as if in the present day and age, the Many Greeks “medized” (threw their lot American people agreed to spend their in with the Persians), but the Spartans entire social security payments on buying and the Athenians refused.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Thoughts on Grand Strategy and the United States in the Twenty-First Century
    Journal of Military and Strategic VOLUME 13, ISSUE 1, FALL 2010 Studies Thoughts on Grand Strategy and the United States in the Twenty-first Century Williamson Murray One might begin an examination of the issues involved in grand strategy with an effort to describe what we mean by the term. Over the centuries, some governments and leaders have attempted to chart a course for their nations that has involved something more than simply reacting to the course of events. In most cases they have confronted sudden and major changes in the international environment, often resulting from the outbreak of great conflicts, but at times involving economic, strategic, or political alterations that threaten the stability or even existence of their polities. Yet, grand strategy is a matter of great states and great states alone. No small states, and few medium size states, possess the possibility of crafting a grand strategy. For the most part their circumstances condemn them to suffer what Athens negotiators suggested to their Melian counterparts in 416 BC about the nature of international relations: "The standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact the strong do what they have the power to do and the weak accept what they have to accept."1 1 Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, trans. by Rex Warner (London, 1954), p. 402. There are two exceptions to the rule. Both the Swiss and the Finns were able to exercise a certain independence that allowed them to maintain a grand strategic frame work: the former by balancing great powers off against each other; the latter by creating the distinct impression in the minds of the Soviets that they were willing to fight to the last man and woman in defense of their independence.
    [Show full text]
  • American Grand Strategy for an Emerging World Order Scott Lawless
    STRATEGIC STUDIES QUARTERLY - PERSPECTIVE American Grand Strategy for an Emerging World Order SCOTT LAWLESS Abstract Since the end of the Second World War, the United States has secured its core national interests primarily through the creation and maintenance of the liberal international order. Today, this order is being challenged in ways that will define the twenty- first century context. America’s most pressing foreign policy challenge is finding strategies to counter a poten- tially illiberal global order. Neo-authoritarian states are seeking to establish spheres of influence by violating territorial norms, undermining the liberal order via coercive economic measures, and weakening democratic regimes through unconventional political warfare. The current liberal order is ill- equipped to face these challenges because of two global trends: the erosion of its legitimacy and the shifting global balance of power. In a changing environment such as this, where the ends of American grand strategy re- main fixed while its relative means are eroding, the US must revise the ways in which it seeks to achieve its strategic objectives. The shifts in geopolitics today necessitate a revitalization of American grand strategy and the estab- lishment of a new security order—namely, a Concert of Democracies—to secure American interests, reestablish liberal legitimacy, and shape the emerging international order toward a stable future. ***** he liberal international order that emerged triumphant over fas- cism and communism during the twentieth century is a testament to the institutions, alliances, and norms US statesmen established Tto avoid the revival of great power conflict. Though these structures have granted the United States and its allies several decades of unparalleled security and prosperity, it is unclear as to what is invoked by the term lib- eral international order.
    [Show full text]
  • Deception, Disinformation, and Strategic Communications: How One Interagency Group Made a Major Difference by Fletcher Schoen and Christopher J
    STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES 11 Deception, Disinformation, and Strategic Communications: How One Interagency Group Made a Major Difference by Fletcher Schoen and Christopher J. Lamb Center for Strategic Research Institute for National Strategic Studies National Defense University Institute for National Strategic Studies National Defense University The Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) is National Defense University’s (NDU’s) dedicated research arm. INSS includes the Center for Strategic Research, Center for Complex Operations, Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs, Center for Technology and National Security Policy, Center for Transatlantic Security Studies, and Conflict Records Research Center. The military and civilian analysts and staff who comprise INSS and its subcomponents execute their mission by conducting research and analysis, publishing, and participating in conferences, policy support, and outreach. The mission of INSS is to conduct strategic studies for the Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Unified Combatant Commands in support of the academic programs at NDU and to perform outreach to other U.S. Government agencies and the broader national security community. Cover: Kathleen Bailey presents evidence of forgeries to the press corps. Credit: The Washington Times Deception, Disinformation, and Strategic Communications: How One Interagency Group Made a Major Difference Deception, Disinformation, and Strategic Communications: How One Interagency Group Made a Major Difference By Fletcher Schoen and Christopher J. Lamb Institute for National Strategic Studies Strategic Perspectives, No. 11 Series Editor: Nicholas Rostow National Defense University Press Washington, D.C. June 2012 Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied within are solely those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Defense Department or any other agency of the Federal Government.
    [Show full text]
  • Ancient History Sourcebook: 11Th Brittanica: Sparta SPARTA an Ancient City in Greece, the Capital of Laconia and the Most Powerful State of the Peloponnese
    Ancient History Sourcebook: 11th Brittanica: Sparta SPARTA AN ancient city in Greece, the capital of Laconia and the most powerful state of the Peloponnese. The city lay at the northern end of the central Laconian plain, on the right bank of the river Eurotas, a little south of the point where it is joined by its largest tributary, the Oenus (mount Kelefina). The site is admirably fitted by nature to guard the only routes by which an army can penetrate Laconia from the land side, the Oenus and Eurotas valleys leading from Arcadia, its northern neighbour, and the Langada Pass over Mt Taygetus connecting Laconia and Messenia. At the same time its distance from the sea-Sparta is 27 m. from its seaport, Gythium, made it invulnerable to a maritime attack. I.-HISTORY Prehistoric Period.-Tradition relates that Sparta was founded by Lacedaemon, son of Zeus and Taygete, who called the city after the name of his wife, the daughter of Eurotas. But Amyclae and Therapne (Therapnae) seem to have been in early times of greater importance than Sparta, the former a Minyan foundation a few miles to the south of Sparta, the latter probably the Achaean capital of Laconia and the seat of Menelaus, Agamemnon's younger brother. Eighty years after the Trojan War, according to the traditional chronology, the Dorian migration took place. A band of Dorians united with a body of Aetolians to cross the Corinthian Gulf and invade the Peloponnese from the northwest. The Aetolians settled in Elis, the Dorians pushed up to the headwaters of the Alpheus, where they divided into two forces, one of which under Cresphontes invaded and later subdued Messenia, while the other, led by Aristodemus or, according to another version, by his twin sons Eurysthenes and Procles, made its way down the Eurotas were new settlements were formed and gained Sparta, which became the Dorian capital of Laconia.
    [Show full text]
  • The Russian Integration of Cyber Power Into Grand Strategy by James J
    Cyber War and Strategic Culture: The Russian Integration of Cyber Power into Grand Strategy by James J. Wirtz Chapter 3 in Kenneth Geers (Ed.), Cyber War in Perspective: Russian Aggression against Ukraine, NATO CCD COE Publications, Tallinn 2015 In Chapter 3, James J. Wirtz, Dean of the Naval Postgraduate School in California, describes the global context surrounding these events. Today, nation-states are integrating cyber tactics into their political and military strategies. Professor Wirtz posits that when it comes to the use of cyber, ‘national styles’ might be emerging as states attempt to use cyber capabilities to achieve strategic objectives. He suggests that it is wrong to treat cyber attacks as a silver bullet, and that it is better to consider how a sort of combined arms approach will prevail. On a positive note, the need for legal and bureaucratic integration of policies and programmes should produce national idiosyncrasies on the cyber battlefield that can help with the vexing challenge of attribution. Disclaimer This publication is a product of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Ex- cellence (the Centre). It does not necessarily reflect the policy or the opinion of the Centre or NATO. The Centre may not be held responsible for any loss or harm arising from the use of information contained in this publication and is not responsible for the content of the external sources, including external websites referenced in this publica- tion. Digital or hard copies of this publication may be produced for internal use within NATO and for personal or educational use when for non-profit and non-commercial purpose, provided that copies bear a full citation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Pillars of American Grand Strategy in World War II by Tami Davis Biddle
    Leveraging Strength: The Pillars of American Grand Strategy in World War II by Tami Davis Biddle Tami Davis Biddle is the Hoyt S. Vandenberg Chair of Aerospace Studies at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA. She is the author of Rhetoric and Reality in Air Warfare: The Evolution of British and American Thinking about Strategic Bombing, 1914–1945, and is at work on a new book titled, Taking Command: The United States at War, 1944–1945. This article is based on a lecture she delivered in March 2010 in The Hertog Program on Grand Strategy, jointly sponsored by Temple University’s Center for Force and Diplomacy, and FPRI. Abstract: This article argues that U.S. leaders navigated their way through World War II challenges in several important ways. These included: sustaining a functional civil-military relationship; mobilizing inside a democratic, capitalist paradigm; leveraging the moral high ground ceded to them by their enemies; cultivating their ongoing relationship with the British, and embra- cing a kind of adaptability and resiliency that facilitated their ability to learn from mistakes and take advantage of their enemies’ mistakes. ooking back on their World War II experience from the vantage point of the twenty-first century, Americans are struck, first of all, by the speed L with which everything was accomplished: armies were raised, fleets of planes and ships were built, setbacks were overcome, and great victories were won—all in a mere 45 months. Between December 1941 and August 1945, Americans faced extraordinary challenges and accepted responsibilities they had previously eschewed.
    [Show full text]
  • Ideals and Pragmatism in Greek Military Thought 490-338 Bc
    Roel Konijnendijk IDEALS AND PRAGMATISM IN GREEK MILITARY THOUGHT 490-338 BC PhD Thesis – Ancient History – UCL I, Roel Konijnendijk, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Thesis Abstract This thesis examines the principles that defined the military thinking of the Classical Greek city-states. Its focus is on tactical thought: Greek conceptions of the means, methods, and purpose of engaging the enemy in battle. Through an analysis of historical accounts of battles and campaigns, accompanied by a parallel study of surviving military treatises from the period, it draws a new picture of the tactical options that were available, and of the ideals that lay behind them. It has long been argued that Greek tactics were deliberately primitive, restricted by conventions that prescribed the correct way to fight a battle and limited the extent to which victory could be exploited. Recent reinterpretations of the nature of Greek warfare cast doubt on this view, prompting a reassessment of tactical thought – a subject that revisionist scholars have not yet treated in detail. This study shows that practically all the assumptions of the traditional model are wrong. Tactical thought was constrained chiefly by the extreme vulnerability of the hoplite phalanx, its total lack of training, and the general’s limited capacity for command and control on the battlefield. Greek commanders, however, did not let any moral rules get in the way of possible solutions to these problems. Battle was meant to create an opportunity for the wholesale destruction of the enemy, and any available means were deployed towards that goal.
    [Show full text]
  • Strategy, Grand Strategy, and the Enduring War on Terror 3
    A HOOVER INSTITUTION ESSAY ON A US STRATEGIC VISION IN A CHANGING WORLD Strategy, Grand Strategy, and the Enduring War on Terror HAL BRANDS Strategy, in national security as in other fields, consists of using the available means to accomplish some important end. Grand strategy requires, among other things, incorporating a nation’s various strategies into a coherent—and solvent—whole. There can be, then, an inherent tension between the demands of successful strategy and those of sustainable grand strategy, for the requirements of maintaining solvency across the range of national programs may limit the amount of resources made available to accomplish some particular objective or meet some pressing threat. This is precisely the challenge the United States faces today in dealing with the problem of jihadist terrorism: the demands of strategy and the demands of grand strategy are Islamism and the International Order International the and Islamism becoming progressively harder to reconcile. The United States has now been fighting a global war on terror (GWOT) for nearly two decades, but the threat posed by extremist groups—particularly those capable of creating geographic safe havens and mounting significant external attacks— remains. The confrontation with al-Qaeda’s “core” after 9/11 led to a struggle against the al-Qaeda “affiliates” in Iraq and elsewhere. That struggle continues, even as the campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (often referred to as ISIS) has taken pride of place in American counterterrorism strategy since 2014. No sooner has the United States suppressed or even defeated one terrorist organization, it often seems, than a new and dangerous successor or group of successors takes its place.
    [Show full text]
  • Principles of War and Their Application to Strategy and Tactics G
    Naval War College Review Volume 3 Article 3 Number 8 October 1950 Principles of War and Their Application to Strategy and Tactics G. K. Carmichael U.S. Navy Follow this and additional works at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review Recommended Citation Carmichael, G. K. (1950) "Principles of War and Their Application to Strategy and Tactics," Naval War College Review: Vol. 3 : No. 8 , Article 3. Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol3/iss8/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Naval War College Review by an authorized editor of U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Carmichael: Principles of War and Their Application to Strategy and Tactics RESTRICTED PRINCIPLES OF WAR AND THEIR APPLICATION TO STRATEGY AND TACTICS A lecture delivered by Captain G. K. Carmichael, USN at the Naval War College. August 17, 1950 The task of the Naval War College mission is to further an understanding of the fundamentals of warfare, with. emphasis on their application to future naval warfare. Accordingly, it is my purpose this morning to examine some of the fundamental truths of war and to indicate how these so-called principles of war are ap­ plicable to strategy and tactics. Although exact definitions of the fields of war-strategy, tac­ tics, and logistics-are difficult to arrive at, and may create futile discussion as to semantic distinctions, some definitions are desirable as a basis for study and discussion.
    [Show full text]
  • Phalanxes and Triremes: Warfare in Ancient Greece by Ancient History Encyclopedia, Adapted by Newsela Staff on 08.08.17 Word Count 1,730 Level 1230L
    Phalanxes and Triremes: Warfare in Ancient Greece By Ancient History Encyclopedia, adapted by Newsela staff on 08.08.17 Word Count 1,730 Level 1230L A lithograph plate showing ancient Greek warriors in a variety of different uniforms. Photo from Wikimedia. In the ancient Greek world, warfare was seen as a necessary evil of the human condition. Whether it be small frontier skirmishes between neighboring city-states, lengthy city-sieges, civil wars or large-scale battles between multi-alliance blocks on land and sea, the vast rewards of war were thought to outweigh the costs in material and lives. While there were lengthy periods of peace, the desire for new territory, war booty or revenge meant the Greeks were regularly engaged in warfare both at home and abroad. Toward professional warfare The Greeks did not always have professional soldiers. Warfare started out as the business of private individuals. Armed bands led by warrior leaders, city militias of part-time soldiers provided their own equipment and may have included all the citizens of the city-state. Eventually, the conduct of warfare started to move away from private individuals and into the realm of the state. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. In the early stages of Greek warfare in the Archaic period, training was haphazard. There were no uniforms or insignia and as soon as the conflict was over the soldiers would return to their farms. By the fifth century B.C, the military might of Sparta provided a model for all other states to follow.
    [Show full text]
  • Three Levels of War USAF College of Aerospace Doctrine, Research and Education (CADRE) Air and Space Power Mentoring Guide, Vol
    Three Levels of War USAF College of Aerospace Doctrine, Research and Education (CADRE) Air and Space Power Mentoring Guide, Vol. 1 Maxwell AFB, AL: Air University Press, 1997 (excerpt) Modern military theory divides war into strategic, operational, and tactical levels.1 Although this division has its basis in the Napoleonic Wars and the American Civil War, modern theory regarding these three levels was formulated by the Prussians following the Franco- Prussian War. It has been most thoroughly developed by the Soviets.2 In American military circles, the division of war into three levels has been gaining prominence since its 1982 introduction in Army Field Manual (FM) 100-5, Operations.3 The three levels allow causes and effects of all forms of war and conflict to be better understood—despite their growing complexity.4 To understand modern theories of war and conflict and to prosecute them successfully, the military professional must thoroughly understand the three levels, especially the operational level, and how they are interrelated. The boundaries of the levels of war and conflict tend to blur and do not necessarily correspond to levels of command. Nevertheless, in the American system, the strategic level is usually the concern of the National Command Authorities (NCA) and the highest military commanders, the operational level is usually the concern of theater commands, and the tactical level is usually the focus of subtheater commands. Each level is concerned with planning (making strategy), which involves analyzing the situation, estimating friendly and enemy capabilities and limitations, and devising possible courses of action. Corresponding to the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war and conflict are national (grand) strategy with its national military strategy subcomponent, operational strategy, and battlefield strategy (tactics).
    [Show full text]
  • Strategy in the New Era of Tactical Nuclear Weapons
    STRATEGIC STUDIES QUARTERLY - PERSPECTIVE Strategy in the New Era of Tactical Nuclear Weapons COL JOSEPH D. BECKER, USA Abstract Post–Cold War strategic discourse, primarily among Russian strate- gists, has challenged the precept that nuclear weapons are not useful tools of warfare or statecraft. To reduce the likelihood that such ideas will ever be tested in practice, the US must openly address hard-case scenarios and develop a coherent strategy sufficient to give adversaries pause. This article posits that the key to successfully deterring the use of tactical nuclear weapons lies not in winning an arms race but in the clear articulation of a purpose and intent that directs all aspects of US policy toward the preven- tion of nuclear war and leaves no exploitable openings for opportunistic challengers. Further, an ideal strategy would be crafted to reduce—not increase—the salience of nuclear weapons in geopolitics. The article con- siders three possible approaches to a strategy for tactical nuclear weapons, but the most desirable and effective will be a “strategy of non-use” based upon credible and well- prepared alternatives to a nuclear response. ***** he end of the Cold War ushered in a new era suggesting the pos- sibility that nuclear weapons could become a relic of the past. Prominent leaders, including US president Barack Obama, cam- paigned vociferously for measures to abolish the world’s nuclear stock- T1 piles. However, instead of moving toward a world of “nuclear zero,” the US and Russia have proceeded with nuclear modernization and capability development, and even China is quietly expanding its nuclear arsenal.
    [Show full text]