Download or read book The Dynamics of Military Revolution 1300 2050 written by MacGregor Knox and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2001-08-27 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book studies the changes that have marked war in the Western World since the thirteenth century.
Download or read book The Dynamics of Military Revolution 1300 2050 written by MacGregor Knox and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2001-08-27 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Dynamics of Military Revolution aims to bridge a major gap in the emerging literature on revolutions in military affairs, suggesting that there have been two very different phenomena at work over the past centuries: 'military revolutions', which are driven by vast social and political changes; and 'revolutions in military affairs', which military institutions have directed, although usually with great difficulty and ambiguous results. By providing both a conceptual framework and a historical context for thinking about revolutionary changes in military affairs, the work establishes a baseline for understanding the patterns of change, innovation, and adaptation that have marked war in the Western World since the thirteenth century - beginning with Edward III's revolutionary changes in medieval warfare, through the development of modern Western military institutions in seventeenth-century France, to the cataclysmic changes of the First World War and the German Blitzkrieg victories of 1940. This history provides a guide for thinking about military revolutions in the coming century, which are as inevitable as they are difficult to predict.
Download or read book Thinking About Revolutions in Military Affairs written by Williamson Murray and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 9 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The term revolution in military affairs (RMA) is a buzzword inside the Beltway and among academics interested in defense affairs. As Dennis Schowalter noted at a recent conference, "RMA has replaced TQM total quality management as the acronym of choice among members of the Armed Forces. One suspects that much of this enthusiasm, which rests upon only the slightest knowledge of the historical record, may distort as much as it helps in thinking about military change and innovation. Yet one must also admit that military events of late suggest major changes in technology and weapons with substantial implications for conducting war in the next century. This article suggests how one might think about RMAs of the past and the implications of the historical record for the future. The views reflect the influence, comments, and thoughts of colleagues in the historical profession. First, historians have done relatively little work on RMAs. Michael Roberts introduced the idea of a single military revolution in his inaugural lecture at Queens University Belfast in 1955. Thereafter until 1991, interest in the military revolution was focused on the 16th and 17th centuries; early modern historians argued among themselves about whether there was such a revolution and, if so, when it occurred and what form it took. That debate continues. Since the mid-18th century, however, military historians have concentrated on other issues such as innovation, effectiveness, adaptation, organizational behavior, or-the bread and butter of the profession-battle histories. Modern historians quite simply have not been very interested in military revolutions.
Download or read book War Made New written by Max Boot and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2006-10-19 with total page 640 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A monumental, groundbreaking work, now in paperback, that shows how technological and strategic revolutions have transformed the battlefield Combining gripping narrative history with wide-ranging analysis, War Made New focuses on four "revolutions" in military affairs and describes how inventions ranging from gunpowder to GPS-guided air strikes have remade the field of battle—and shaped the rise and fall of empires. War Made New begins with the Gunpowder Revolution and explains warfare's evolution from ritualistic, drawn-out engagements to much deadlier events, precipitating the rise of the modern nation-state. He next explores the triumph of steel and steam during the Industrial Revolution, showing how it powered the spread of European colonial empires. Moving into the twentieth century and the Second Industrial Revolution, Boot examines three critical clashes of World War II to illustrate how new technology such as the tank, radio, and airplane ushered in terrifying new forms of warfare and the rise of centralized, and even totalitarian, world powers. Finally, Boot focuses on the Gulf War, the invasion of Afghanistan, and the Iraq War—arguing that even as cutting-edge technologies have made America the greatest military power in world history, advanced communications systems have allowed decentralized, "irregular" forces to become an increasingly significant threat.
Download or read book The Military Revolution and Revolutions in Military Affairs written by Mark Fissel and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2022-12-05 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Military Revolution and Revolutions in Military Affairs updates two central debates in military history--the one surrounding the concept of military revolution, and the one on military affairs--whilst advancing original research in both fields. Only a handful of publications consider the military revolution and the RMA in tandem. This book breaks new ground conceptually and appeals to an exceptionally large and diverse readership. Comparative revisionist studies of the military revolution and RMA better enable us to comprehend the historical continuum and reveal the new RMA for what it is. And for what it is shortly to become. This book presents original contributions within the "epicentre" of the military revolution debate, the 1500s, with an emphasis on gunpowder revolution (offensively and defensively). The connections with the Revolution in Military Affairs are then made explicit by scholars, a practitioner, and an analyst, with an emphasis on airborne lethal autonomous weapons systems. This is a chronologically broad and unique methodological approach to a historical debate that begs for clarification as we enter an era where killer robots will almost certainly take from humans their monopoly on violence.
Download or read book Strategy for Chaos written by Colin Gray and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-03-25 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this volume, Professor Colin Gray develops and applies the theory and scholarship on the allegedly historical practice of the 'Revolution in Military Affairs' (RMA), in order to improve our comprehension of how and why strategy 'works'. The author explores the RMA hypothesis both theoretically and historically. The book argues that the conduct of an RMA has to be examined as a form of strategic behaviour, which means that, of necessity, it must "work" as strategy works. The great RMA debate of the 1990s is reviewed empathetically, though sceptically, by the author, with every major school of thought allowed its day in court. The author presents three historical RMAs as case studies for his argument: those arguably revealed in the wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon; in World War I; and in the nuclear age. The focus of his analysis is how these grand RMAs functioned strategically. The conclusions that he draws from these empirical exercises are then applied to help us understand what, indeed, is - and what is not - happening with the much vaunted information-technology-led RMA of today.
Download or read book Strategy for Chaos written by Colin S. Gray and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The remit of this study is to encourage further studies that make an honest and successful effort to achieve synergy between social science and history when analysing the impact of revolutions in military affairs (RMAs).
Download or read book Past Revolutions Future Transformations written by Richard O. Hundley and published by RAND Corporation. This book was released on 1999 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Advances in technology can bring about dramatic changes in military operations, often termed revolutions in military affairs or RMAs. Such technology-driven changes in military operations are not merely a recent phenomenon: they have been occurring since the dawn of history, they will continue to occur in the future, and they will continue to bestow a military advantage on the first nation to develop and use them. Accordingly, it is important to the continued vitality and robustness of the U.S. defense posture for the DoD R&D community to be aware of technology developments that could revolutionize military operations in the future, and for the U.S. military services to be on the lookout for revolutionary ways in which to employ those technologies in warfare. This report examines the history of past RMAs, to see what can be learned from them regarding the challenge confronting the DoD today, when it has set out on a concerted effort to bring about a technology-driven transformation of the U.S. military to achieve the operational goals outlined in Joint Vision 2010. Among its many findings are three of particular note: RMAs are rarely brought about by dominant players (such as the U.S. military is today). For a dominant player to bring about an RMA requires a receptive organizational climate, fostering a continually refined vision of how war may change in the future and encouraging vigorous debate regarding the future of the organization; senior officers with traditional credentials willing to sponsor new ways of doing things and able to establish new promotion pathways for junior officers practicing a new way of war; mechanisms for experimentation, to discover, learn, test and demonstrate new ideas; and ways of responding positively to the results of successful experiments, in terms of doctrinal changes, acquisition programs, and force structure modifications. The DoD has some of these elements today, but is missing others. The report makes specific suggestions regarding ways of filling in the missing elements. Doing these things will facilitate DoD's force transformation activities and help ensure that the next RMA is brought about by the United States. and not some other nation.
Download or read book Strategy and the Revolution in Military Affairs from Theory to Policy written by Steven Metz and published by . This book was released on 2013-01-28 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American combat effectiveness in the Gulf War suggested that a historic revolution in military affairs (RMA) is underway, possibly solving many of the strategic dilemmas the United States faces in the post-Cold War world. Inspired by this notion, a small group of RMA analysts has emerged. So far they have concentrated on defining and describing military revolutions. Now broader theoretical and policy issues must be addressed. The notion of military revolutions grew from Soviet writing of the 1970s and 1980s. Early studies talked of a military technical revolution? (MTR), but this quickly evolved into the more holistic concept of revolutions in military affairs. Most analysts define a RMA as a discontinuous increase in military capability and effectiveness arising from simultaneous and mutually supportive change in technology, systems, operational methods, and military organizations. The current RMA is characterized by four types of changes: *extremely precise, stand-off strikes; *dramatically improved command, control, and intelligence; *information warfare; and *nonlethality. Analysts see a number of benefits from harnessing the current revolution in military affairs and using it to build 21st century U.S. armed forces: *rejuvenating the political utility of military power; *delaying the emergence of a peer competitor; *providing a blueprint for technology acquisition and force reorganization; and, *inspiring conceptual, forward-looking thinking.
Download or read book Information Dominance written by Martin C. Libicki and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 4 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Information dominance may be defined as superiority in the generation, manipulation, and use of information sufficient to afford its possessors military dominance. It has three sources: Command and control that permits everyone to know where they (and their cohorts) are in the battlespace, and enables them to execute operations when and as quickly as necessary; Intelligence that ranges from knowing the enemy's dispositions to knowing the location of enemy assets in real-time with sufficient precision for a one-shot kill; information warfare that confounds enemy information systems at various points (sensors, communications, processing, and command), while protecting one's own. Technical means, nevertheless, are no substitute for information dominance at the strategic level: knowing oneself and one's enemy; and, at best, inducing them to see things as one does.
Download or read book Reassessing the Revolution in Military Affairs written by Andrew Futter and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-10-12 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A generation after the First Gulf War, and in the wake of a decade of counterinsurgency operations and irregular warfare, this book explores how the concept of the Revolution in Military Affairs continues to shape the way modern militaries across the globe think about, plan and fight wars.
Download or read book Toward a Revolution in Military Affairs written by Thierry Gongora and published by Praeger. This book was released on 2000-05-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA), unleashed by the integration of information technologies into weapons systems, military units, and operations is a phenomenon whose impacts have been felt well beyond the Gulf in 1991 or the Balkans in 1999. Technological developments lie at the center of these changes; however, the RMA is about more than technology. It includes the consequences of technological changes for defense and security. This study provides an assessment of the RMA that goes beyond a mere description of new defense-related technologies to deal with deeper, more fundamental issues. Through the contributions of American, Canadian, Chinese, and French experts, this book surveys the RMA from various perspectives and evaluates it from the standpoints of military history and military science. The authors conclude that, while the RMA represents a significant challenge for defense establishments, it may fall short of being truly revolutionary. Whether one looks at power projection or information warfare, it appears that emerging technologies will translate into significant improvements in capabilities, but not necessarily a revolution in warfare. From a comparative perspective, the United States remains well ahead in thinking of and implementing changes that stem from the RMA, although other nations may make selective use of the RMA to promote regional security goals.
Download or read book Recognizing and Understanding Revolutionary Change in Warfare The Sovereignty of Context written by Colin S. Gray and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2006 with total page 67 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Revolution in Military Affairs" (RMA) was the most widely used, and abused, acronym in the U.S. defense community in the 1990s. Subsequently, "transformation" has superceded it as the preferred term of art. For the better part of two decades, American defense professionals have been excited by the prospect of effecting a revolutionary change in the conduct and character of warfare. In this monograph, Dr. Colin S. Gray provides a critical audit of the great RMA debate and of some actual RMA behavior. He argues that the contexts of warfare are crucially important. Indeed so vital are the contexts that only a military transformation that allows for flexibility and adaptability will meet future strategic demands. Dr. Gray warns against a transformation that is highly potent only in a narrow range of strategic cases. In addition, he advises that the historical record demonstrates clearly that every revolutionary change in warfare eventually is more or less neutralized by antidotes of one kind or another (political, strategic, operational, tactical, and technological). He warns that the military effectiveness of a process of revolutionary change in a "way of war" can only be judged by the test of battle, and possibly not even then, if the terms of combat are very heavily weighted in favor of the United States. On balance, the concept of revolutionary change is found to be quite useful, provided it is employed and applied with some reservations and in a manner that allows for flexibility and adaptability. Above all else, the monograph insists, the contexts of warfare, especially the political, determine how effective a transforming military establishment will be.
Download or read book Inevitable Evolutions written by U.s. Army Command and General Staff College and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-07-23 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) remains one of the most publicized, yet least understood, concepts among contemporary defense analysts. Too often, professional academic evaluation of military revolution is force-centric, neglecting the inherent association with the social, political, and economic dimensions within which all warfare is conducted. Historian Michael Roberts, who first postulated the presence of a revolution in military affairs in early modern Europe, envisioned a broad theoretical construct that encompassed these dimensions within a framework remarkably similar to Carl von Clausewitz's "paradoxical trinity," conjoining the military with the socio-political facets of war. Nevertheless, the modern RMA debate largely neglects this model in the pursuit of a panacea for the future. Returning to the fundamental traditions that once defined the RMA debate, this monograph introduces a paradigm that melds the essence of Roberts? holistic approach with the theory of punctuated equilibrium, a biological model for evolutionary development hypothesized by Niles Eldredge and Steven Gould in 1972. Their model, which countered the very soul of Darwinian evolution, proved both accurate and versatile and was quickly adapted in the fields of finance, business, and organizational theory. In the pages that follow, the author redefines the history of military revolutions within the context of Punctuated Revolutions in Military Affairs, in which military revolution occurs in bursts of rapid change punctuated by relatively long periods of equilibrium, or international symmetry. The utility of this new paradigm is twofold: first, punctuated equilibrium presents an analytical model for the examination of historical military revolutions consistent with Michael Roberts original thesis; second, punctuated equilibrium defines history within the context of patterns of change and is, therefore, predictive in nature. Ultimately, this monograph posits the present state of military affairs within the continuum of Punctuated Revolutions in Military Affairs, offering a glimpse into the future of what may come to be.
Download or read book Strategy and the Revolution in Military Affairs written by Steven Metz and published by . This book was released on 1995-06-27 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A small band of "RMA" analysts has emerged in the military and Department of Defense, in the academic strategic studies community, and in defense-related think-tanks and consulting firms. To these analysts, the Gulf War provided a vision of a potential revolution in military affairs (RMA) in which "Information Age" technology would be combined with appropriate doctrine and training to allow a small but very advanced U.S. military to protect national interests with unprecedented efficiency. In this study, the authors examine the open-source literature on the RMA that has resulted. They find that much of it has concentrated on defining and describing military revolutions and that, despite the efforts of some of the finest minds in the defense analytical community, it has not offered either comprehensive basic theories or broad policy choices and implications. The authors believe that in order to master a RMA rather than be dragged along by it, Americans must debate its theoretical underpinnings, strategic implications, core assumptions, and normative choices. As a step in that direction they provide a set of hypotheses regarding the configuration and process of revolutions in military affairs, and examine some of their potential policy implications.
Download or read book The real Revolution in Military Affairs written by Andrei Martyanov and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Battlefield of the Future 21st Century Warfare Issues written by Lawrence Grinter and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2012-08-01 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a book about strategy and war fighting. It contains 11 essays which examine topics such as military operations against a well-armed rogue state, the potential of parallel warfare strategy for different kinds of states, the revolutionary potential of information warfare, the lethal possibilities of biological warfare and the elements of an ongoing revolution in military affairs. The purpose of the book is to focus attention on the operational problems, enemy strategies and threat that will confront U.S. national security decision makers in the twenty-first century.
