Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict

With my own experience teaching Star Wars and conflict and an obsession reading everything people write on the subject of Star Wars and conflict, I was very excited to read Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict. Edited by Max Brooks, John Amble, ML Cavanaugh, and Jaym Gates – three of whom are involved with the Modern War Institute at West Point, Strategy Strikes Back is a collection of 28 essays from various writers, each providing a different perspective into conflict through the prism of Star Wars.These authors explore Star Wars in four phases: Society and War, Preparing for War, Waging a War, and Assessment of War. As to be expected, I liked some of the essays better than others. While most of the essays stayed in the realm of the cinematic releases, I gave mental bonus points to the essays that referenced The Clone Wars cartoons.(Although none mentioned the Battle of Odneron from The Clone Wars Season 5, my favorite insurgency in Star Wars history. Perhaps there is room for me to discuss it in a Volume 2?)Among my favorites were:Vader and Mission Command by Jonathan Bratton – An analysis of Darth Vader as commander. Emphasis on his lack of trust and lack of big picture vision.How General Grievous and Vulture Droids Foreshadow Conflict's Fast Future by Raq Winchester and Fran Wilde - The authors explored the growth of technology. They took a very limited scene in Star Wars and extrapolated it into a lesson on future conflict.Vader’s Failed Counterinsurgency by Liam Collins – Excellent philosophical debate by Imperial officers. Good to read they have the same debates we do.Tarkin Doctrine: The Empire’s Theory of Victory by Kelsey D. Atherton – A profile of Grand Moff Tarkin, and a somewhat distant admiration of the man who thought fear could control a galaxy.A Strategist, Yoda Was Not by ML Cavanaugh – Yoda might have been a great warrior and great teacher of Jedi, but ML Cavanaugh describes his failures to save the Republic.I could not get into Hybrid Star Wars (The Battle for Endor) by James Starvridis and Colin Steele. The Battle for Endor was a strictly military battle – often irregular, but never hybrid. Suffer, the Weak Must: A History of the Galactic Civil War by Craig Whiteside also missed the mark by rewriting classic testimony from ancient texts instead of from the Star Wars galaxy. Some of the reworked classic testimony didn’t fit the narrative and seemed forced. Why the Empire Failed by Theresa Hitchens seemed like a rehash of previous essays and Erica Iverson’s omission of Ahsoka Tano and claim that Rey’s mastery is instinctive, but yet she is “a female Luke Skywalker” in From Princess to General: The On- and Offscreen Rise of the Woman Warrior hurt what was otherwise a strong piece from a strong point of view.Overall, Strategy Strikes Back was the opposite of Stormtrooper blaster fire – many more hits than misses. I learned a lot about military strategy and took several pages of notes. If I ever get the opportunity to return to the classroom and teach, Strategy Strikes Back will be required reading for my students. Full of lessons, this book is.

"Strategy Strikes Back" is a collection of twenty-eight essays discussing a broad range of military topics, drawing on lessons illustrated by the Star Wars body of fiction, both movies and literature. In addition to the main focus, strategy, the essays address:- Nation building/rebuilding- The civil military divide - the disconnect between the civilian population and the military- The implications of emerging military technology- Just War theory and practice- How dictators rise- Ethics, beyond Just War- The arguments of Mahan and Corbett replayed with starships- Hybrid warfare- The practical and moral implications of pre-emptive attacks- Organizational culture- And, of course, the application of military force.Wide-ranging, with more than thirty contributors, the essays vary in style and content, but are consistently well thought out.My favorite chapter was "Lightsabers and Deathstars" discussing complexity versus simplicity of arms, although it misses the implications of training time requirements weapons discussed. The runner up for me was "Darth Vader's Failed Counterinsurgency Strategy", a staff meeting of Imperial leadership attempting to work through what went wrong with their counterinsurgency operations.The book is supremely and shamelessly nerdy. Military theory, real military theory, more theory than one can acquire from board, computer, or video games, is in many ways narrow, unquestionably intellectual, and invites obsession; the stuff of nerd focus. Star Wars, of course, is iconically nerdy. So take some of the most significant military and strategy thinkers of the moment, sift through them for the ones who are also Star Wars affecianados, and solicit their thoughts. That was the process for editing this book. The book is splendid grist for discussion for members of either circle of nerds, but a joy for people who belong to both clubs.E.M. Van Court

BLUF: The book successfully uses the Star Wars universe to explain concepts in military affairs, military strategy, operations, civ-mil relations, and a variety of other topics in the security field. It's well researched, easy to read, and best of all, fun!A bit of a background on myself. I recently graduated from Georgetown University's Security Studies Program with an MA in Security Studies. The program's focus was on strategy and international relations theory, while my concentration focused mostly on military operations. I'm also a huge Star Wars fan who has read a lot of the expanded universe.First, this is not a Star Wars book. This is a book on strategy and other topics in military affairs, BUT it uses examples in Star Wars to explain such topics. The book is broken down into 28 short chapters which makes them very consumable and keeps them from getting too bloated. Have you ever wondered why the Galactic Empire sucked at COIN? What about the strained relationship between the Jedi Council and the Republic Senate? Does the Clone Army tell us something about our own cil-mil relations? Was Yoda a good strategist? Star Wars may be fiction, but as General McChrystal notes in the forward, "Wisdom is where you find it. Don't be afraid to look in unexpected places."I recommend this book to faculty of grad level programs that focus on strategy and military affairs, ESPECIALLY if they are fans of Star Wars (WHO ISN'T??). The book would compliment any military strategy class' reading list. It's a well researched book, no only for the serious topics covered, but seldom did I find a canonical mistake regarding Star Wars plot and characters. Some of these authors really went down the Wookieepedia rabbit hole! Nerds!

Contemporary western military strategy issues discussed and explained with Star Wars cannon used as examples, well researched and referenced. Academic-ish but still accessible.

The application of a fictional analogy is an excellent device for getting across very interesting ideas about modern military strategy and the challenges of modern conflicts.

I’m only at page 39 and I am already learning a lot from this book that is written by experts but not so top heavy in academic scrutiny to make it heavy to read through.From McChrystal’s foreword it is already giving the reader a big hint on what the future soldier & leaderships should be “ relentlessly dedicated, harshly realistic operators” , “ no one ever masters the craft beyond the need for continuous study”By this point I’m hooked into the read.I will now bring up some early points made in the book that caught my interest.Societies fight wars - the political upheaval of the Vietnam war years shows this theory to be true. When we see war we should realise it will effect our homes, our culture, our money, our futures. Our past is made by wars their outcomes have to this day profound and irreversible effects on who we are and what we become. This important relationship is overlooked but is evident in everything right up to the language I write in today.Ewoks or as I think of them warriors natural to the land make the most economical & hardy allies but on the flip side the longest resource draining enemies. As in Afghanistan playing with such 13th century fundamentalists is playing with an unpredictable fire. The danger of disregarding useful allies is perhaps best looked at from the point of view of how hard would it be to deal with them as enemies.The Jedi & Senate leads me to think of the problems of political elites, Capitol Hill lobbyists, Soviet nomenklatura, EU undemocratic technocrats. Or what Smedley Butler highlighted in his pamphlet.The Jedi arrogance and lack of honest appraisals reminds me of the Tsarist Russian war against the Japanese and the dangers of self serving echo chambers when they finally fight against foreign rivals in war. The Jedi, irresponsibility at vital war moments also remind me of the negativity brought by leaderships that use personality cult, celebrity, and political language & idea dictats along with propaganda to gain and maintain power.Another more modern issue is highlighted- apathy. The warrior class not believing in or trusting the system they defend. This is an area that must always be addressed with the truth.Other factors that come to the surface are elites vs the masses, pride & entitlement, hubris, too big to fail reckless beliefs. And how they must be challenged with scrutiny, realism, and belief which I believe will be important in future soldier doctrines.As well as in neo-conservative circles where a shyness towards calamity and costs of the major political goals are a problem. John McCain has highlighted this problem in his recent comments on the Iraq war.Getting the real truth that leads to realistic and practical strategies will need to develop outside the easy echo chambers and a ‘take on board’ of critical scrutiny of non-easy view points from NGO’s, investigative journalists, foreign commentators, and the societies of enemy military units will need to take place. A real foot on the other shoe counter weight to our cherished big ideas.Distant warriorsUS is a world empire in 150 countries but it has no feared ewoks, no foreign legion, no common wealth to call on. And increasingly relies on a warrior class that has a distance to the US and the foreign country it is in. Also poor health may be a factor in recruiting from US society in the future given the current fit for service figures. My view if you can find a loyal Ghurka corps like the British did, recruit them.The next point I liked was on the surge which unfortunately leaves out the money & employment of local tribes that were an important factor in allowing otherwise hidden insurgents to be engaged. The surge although successful in many respects lead to fatigue. The Empire with all its clones would as with all empires face fatigue eventually unless it had created its own imperial ewoks to take its place. With droid or drone armies and the improvements in AI we may view such robots as a preferred expendable choice with little to lose in the way of impacting society and internal politics. Although clones are more imaginative droids have the numbers and equal zero war casualties for your side.Destroying AldernaanTo me this speaks of the problem with employing WMD’s leaving out the WW2 example. Little can be gained if adversaries have equal counter measures and it can lead to smaller enemies viewing a Death Star as the bench mark needed to be safe.The employment of the Death Star shows the empire employing low cunning, losing legitimacy, poorly choosing a target and putting its one big egg in a basket.Major military action can cause blowback. Every action has a reaction this point needs to be made again and again to political hawks. Has the war on terror in Iraq & Libya made the West safer? What has the cost been?A balanced approach against full tilt aggression needs to always be considered. As ambition can lead to failures like the bay of pigs. Or the considered Kennedy vs Lyndon Johnson aggressive thinking on Vietnam. After 2001 the military were given impractical and impossible political goals in foreign countries. Both military & civilian leaders need to have goals that are legal, scrupulous, practical, & necessary. Otherwise we might become the weak empire with its Death Star.The increasing price of large limited number weapons platforms against larger number mass platforms needs to be considered from a procurement point of view.And I’m at page 39...happy reading to you all!

What an excellent way to discuss and explore current military strategy in an approachable manner! In a world where war is everywhere but Western society is so detached from the military, this book helps to bridge the gap and explain strategy but keeping it light-hearted.

Great book but arrived slightly damaged. A partial refund per compensation would be suitable.