Summary of M. Taylor Fravel's Active Defense

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The most recent war involving a great power or its clients is a good example of how the conduct of warfare has changed in the international system, which should create a strong incentive for states to adopt new military strategies if they find a gap between their current capabilities and the expected requirements of future wars.

#2 National military strategy is the set of ideas a military organization has for fighting future wars. It is part of but distinct from a state’s grand strategy. National military strategy explains or outlines how the armed forces will be used to achieve military objectives that advance the state’s political goals.

#3 Military strategy is associated with the concept of doctrine. Doctrine is the principles of strategic-level activities by a military or a state. However, many modern militaries use doctrine to refer to the principles or rules that govern any type of activity, at any level, that a military organization conducts.

#4 Change in military strategy is closely associated with the concept of innovation. However, change is different in one important respect. While many scholars use innovation as another word for change, others define innovation in military organizations as a change that is unprecedented or revolutionary, a significant departure from past practice, and a change that has been successfully institutionalized or implemented within a military organization.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822505360

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Insights on M. Taylor Fravel's Active Defense

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The most recent war involving a great power or its clients is a good example of how the conduct of warfare has changed in the international system, which should create a strong incentive for states to adopt new military strategies if they find a gap between their current capabilities and the expected requirements of future wars.

#2

National military strategy is the set of ideas a military organization has for fighting future wars. It is part of but distinct from a state’s grand strategy. National military strategy explains or outlines how the armed forces will be used to achieve military objectives that advance the state’s political goals.

#3

Military strategy is associated with the concept of doctrine. Doctrine is the principles of strategic-level activities by a military or a state. However, many modern militaries use doctrine to refer to the principles or rules that govern any type of activity, at any level, that a military organization conducts.

#4

Change in military strategy is closely associated with the concept of innovation. However, change is different in one important respect. While many scholars use innovation as another word for change, others define innovation in military organizations as a change that is unprecedented or revolutionary, a significant departure from past practice, and a change that has been successfully institutionalized or implemented within a military organization.

#5

The first motivation for change in military strategy is an immediate external security threat. If a state’s current military strategy is not suited to meet the threat, it will seek to change it. The effects of immediate threats apply to all states and are not limited by many scope conditions.

#6

A fourth source of change is the creation of new missions and objectives for the military by the state. This can be described as environmental because it occurs independently of any military strategy. New missions may arise for a variety of reasons, such as the acquisition of new interests abroad to be defended, changes in the security needs of an ally, or shifts in a state’s political goals for the use of force.

#7

The most common reason states change their military strategies is to address a gap between how they plan to wage war and the demands of future warfare. This can be a motivation for change, but it is not the only one. Other people’s wars may demonstrate the importance or utility of existing practices.

#8

The first internal motive for change is a military’s organizational bias or preference for offensive operations that increase its autonomy, prestige, or resources. This motive draws heavily on organization theory. However, it can only have an effect on strategy when civilian control is weak or when a benign external environment allows organizational biases to influence strategy.

#9

The second component of any explanation of strategic change is the mechanism by which change occurs, which shapes how a new military strategy is formulated and adopted. In socialist states like China, with party-armies and not national ones, the structure of civil-military relations empowers senior military officers to initiate changes in strategy under certain conditions.

#10

The two most common mechanisms of military change are civilian intervention and military autonomy. Civilian intervention is most commonly associated with high threat environments or states with revisionist goals, while military autonomy is most commonly associated with low threat environments or states with democratic goals.

#11

The second scope condition is the level of organizational change that you are attempting to explain. Civilian intervention is more likely to occur as you move from the level of tactics and operations to the level of strategy, as information asymmetries decrease, and as formal channels of civilian influence over the armed forces grow.

#12

The structure of civil-military relations in a given society creates opportunities for either civilian or