John A. Gentry

How Wars Are Won and Lost (eBook, PDF)

Vulnerability and Military Power

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

This provocative book seeks to answer a most crucial-and embarrassing-question concerning the U.S. military: why the United States is so often stymied in military confrontations with seemingly weaker opponents, despite its "superpower" status.

This fascinating book examines a question that continues to puzzle soldiers, statesmen, and scholars: why do major powers-including the ostensible superpower United States-repeatedly perform poorly against seemingly overmatched adversaries? And what can they, and the United States, do to better achieve their military objectives?

How Wars are Won and Lost: Vulnerability and Military Power argues that beyond relying solely on overwhelming military might, the United States needs to focus more on exploiting weaknesses in their adversaries-such as national will, resource mobilization, and strategic miscues-just as opposing forces have done to gain advantage over our military efforts. The author tests the "vulnerability theory" by revisiting six conflicts from the Philippine War of 1899-1902 to the ongoing actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, showing again and again that victory often depends more on outthinking the enemy than outmuscling them.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury Publishing Inc
• Seitenzahl: 328
• Altersempfehlung: ab 7 Jahre
• Erscheinungstermin: 10. November 2011
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780313395833
• Artikelnr.: 37840968

Autorenporträt

John A. Gentry, PhD, is adjunct associate professor with the Security Studies Program of Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Inhaltsangabe

Acknowledgments 1 Introduction 2 The Philippine War of 1899
1902 3 The Allied Bomber Offensive against Germany (1943
1945) 4 The United States in Vietnam (1961
1975) 5 NATO's War against Yugoslavia (1999) 6 The U.S. War in Iraq (2003
2011) 7 The U.S. War in Afghanistan (2001
?) 8 Summary and Conclusions Notes Bibliography Index