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Victory in War: Foundations of Modern Military Policy James R Naval War College Review Volume 60 Article 17 Number 4 Autumn 2007 Victory in War: Foundations of Modern Military Policy James R. Holmes William C. Martel Follow this and additional works at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review Recommended Citation Holmes, James R. and Martel, William C. (2007) "Victory in War: Foundations of Modern Military Policy," Naval War College Review: Vol. 60 : No. 4 , Article 17. Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol60/iss4/17 This Book Review 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]. Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen BOOK REVIEWS 143 Holmes and Martel: Victory in War: Foundations of Modern Military Policy has seen its standard of living decline forgot to prepare his country for life af- and its people suffer.” ter oil and has left it with a castrated Why the scramble for African oil? Be- economy.” cause African oil is of high quality and “Cameroon and Congo are much the therefore relatively cheap to refine. Af- same story, but in the latter country, oil rica is surrounded by water, so access to has fueled a bloody civil war that has the sea and less expensive maritime left the population traumatized and transport further reduces costs (in com- afraid to speak out against the country’s parison to Central Asia, which must high-level corruption.” ship by pipeline), and there is increas- “Angola is the sleeping giant where bil- ing global demand, in which Africa rep- lions of dollars have disappeared and resents a larger percentage of new where government maintains deep dis- discoveries and production. In addi- trust of and distance from the interna- tion, newly discovered offshore reserves tional community.” coupled with new ultra-deepwater drill- Ghazvinian concludes with a discussion ing technology and transshipment di- of the U.S. military’s increasing interest rectly from oil platforms avoids the in Africa, such as in the Gulf of Guinea usual onshore problems. and the establishment of a new Africa Ghazvinian’s field work is based on Command. He also details China’s wide-ranging interviews with politi- long-term strategy of gaining access to cians, economists, warlords, diplomats, oil by providing patient capital for oil aid workers, oil-company executives, infrastructure in riskier areas coupled activists, priests, crude-oil bandits, sol- with considerable development aid with- diers, bureaucrats, technocrats, scien- out the typical Western conditionality. tists, historians, oil-rig workers, The reader will find this informative, lawyers, bankers, old men, and boys, comprehensive, fast-paced journey to among others. He provides comprehen- Africa invaluable in better understand- sive assessments on Nigeria, Gabon, ing the challenges and complexities of Cameroon, Congo, Angola, Equatorial the “curse of oil.” Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Chad, and Sudan. Ghazvinian is quick to point RICHMOND M. LLOYD out that each country differs in terms of Naval War College the dynamics of the complex factors at work. A few examples in his words: “Nigeria, it is simply the doomsday sce- nario, an amalgamation of all the worst Martel, William C. Victory in War: Foundations of oil has to offer Africa: corruption, ethnic Modern Military Policy. New York: Cambridge hatred, Dutch disease, and rentierism, Univ. Press, 2007. 446pp. $36.95 organized crime, militant rebellion, hostage taking, and sabotage of indus- William Martel, formerly of the Naval try activity, and a country held together War College and now of the Fletcher tenuously.” School at Tufts University, accomplishes his chief goal of starting a discussion of “Gabon is the golden child ruled by a a worthy, intensely policy-relevant self-interested French puppet who topic. He demonstrates that a consensus Published by U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons, 2007 1 C:\WIP\NWCR\NWC Review Autumn 2007.vp Thursday, September 13, 2007 3:41:51 PM Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen 144 NAVAL WAR COLLEGE REVIEW Naval War College Review, Vol. 60 [2007], No. 4, Art. 17 definition of the term “victory” remains that result could slip away amid out of grasp, despite centuries of learned terrorism and communal bloodletting. commentary on military affairs. Martel Victory in War renders a service by im- casts his book as a preliminary investi- proving our ability to learn from past gation of the nature of victory. This operations and think through future “pre-theoretical” inquiry, he declares, is operations before embarking on them. the best that can be achieved, given the Given the preliminary nature of nature of war—a violent clash of wills Martel’s work, certain issues await elu- pervaded by uncertainty and strong cidation. Most notably, the terms af- passions. Given these realities, no social- fixed to the levels of victory—grand science theory can tell political and mil- strategic, political-military, and tactical— itary officials how they can arrange imply that the author wants to invert matters to assure victory. the familiar Clausewitzian relationship After surveying the works of classical between policy and strategy. Placing and modern strategic theorists, Martel grand-strategic victory above political- constructs a framework for analyzing military victory in the hierarchy sug- past wars and informing future deliber- gests that strategy—roughly speaking, ations on when and how to use force to “grand strategy” means deploying dip- achieve policy objectives. Victory, says lomatic, economic, and ideological as Martel, can be classified by: its level, well as military power to realize policy designated (in descending order) grand aims—ranks above politics in the order strategic, political-military, or tactical; of things. A taxonomy clearly affirming how, and how much, the war alters the the supremacy of policy would enhance prewar status quo; how fully the victo- Martel’s analytical enterprise and its rious society mobilizes itself for war; relevance to practitioners and scholars and the manner and scope of postwar considerably. obligations incurred by the victor. The In short, Victory in War marks the be- author next uses this framework to clas- ginning of what promises to be a fruit- sify several U.S. military actions, rang- ful debate on matters of vital interest to ing from the 1986 Libya raid to political and military leaders—and the Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. nations they serve. Evaluating victory is an ambiguous un- JAMES R. HOLMES dertaking, even using this analytical ap- Naval War College proach. The Libya raid yielded only a “quasi-political-military victory,” in- ducing a change of political behavior on Moammar Gadhafi’s part. The outcome of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, sure to en- Prados, John. Safe for Democracy: The Secret Wars gender the most controversy among of the CIA. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2006. 696pp. Martel’s case studies, remains in doubt. $35 While American policy makers are In an era where overhead imagery is clearly thinking in terms of a thorough- available to anyone with a computer going, grand-strategic victory that reor- and a credit card, where the twenty-four- ders Middle Eastern affairs, only a hour cable news cycle drives govern- partial victory is yet in hand, and even ment decisions and the Internet https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol60/iss4/17 2 C:\WIP\NWCR\NWC Review Autumn 2007.vp Thursday, September 13, 2007 3:41:51 PM.
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