Science, Strategy and War The Strategic Theory of ... - Boekje Pienter

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Concentration of chemical ANew stable state forvalues of greaterthan cAeq(A)cDistance from equilibriumFigure 9: bifurcation diagramChange is the result of perturbation beyond a boundary. This perturbation may be verysmall, but due to the non-linearity of complex systems, the outcome can be a radical regimechange. It signifies to the transition of a system from the dynamic regime of one set ofattractors, generally more stable and simpler ones, to the dynamic regime of a set of morecomplex and chaotic attractors. Alternatively, the system may find a new area of stability.Dissipative (or, one might prefer, chaotic) structures thus evolve. They make atransformation from the apparently chaotic to increasingly ordered state on the other side ofthe bifurcation point. Dissipative structures thus manifest the process of self-organizing.They arise spontaneously and may evolve towards greater complexity and a higher degree ofthe system’s order. However, the move into the chaotic regime, to the bifurcation point, mayalso lead to a fatal perturbation that causes the system to disintegrate. Thus bifurcation alsodenotes a critical state in which the system either evolves or becomes extinct 19 . Thisobviously has implications for strategic theory.Which path it will take will depend on the system’s history, and on various externalconditions and can never be predicted. The existence of bifurcations at which the systemmay take several different paths therefore implied also that indeterminacy is anothercharacteristic of Prigogine’s theory, thus adding another ‘producer’ of fundamentaluncertainty of dissipative systems to the indeterminacy due to non-linearity caused by theSIC property 20 . It means, in the words of Nicolis, that ‘we therefore give up the idea ofobtaining exact results of a global character and limit our attention to the local behavior ofthe solutions in the vicinity of the bifurcation point’ 21 . Indeed, the recognition ofindeterminacy as a key characteristic of natural phenomena is part of a profound reconceptualizationof science.19 Jong Heon Byeon, ‘Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamic Approach to the Change in PoliticalSystems’, Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 16, (1999), pp. 286-90. This paper includes a goodconcise introduction into far-from-equilibrium dynamics. See for instance also Kenyon B. Green,‘Field Theoretic Framework for the Interpretation of the Evolution, Instability, Structural Change,and Management of Complex Systems’, in L. Douglas Kiel and Euel Eliot (ed), Chaos Theory in theSocial Sciences (University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 1997).20 Capra (1996), p.183.21 G. Nicolis, Introduction to Non-linear Science (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995), p.96.128
From chemistry to life: autopoiesisSubsequently a multitude of such processes were discovered in physical and biologicalsystems. In biochemical systems, such as enzymes, when exposed to energy flows, differentcatalytic reactions were found to combine to form complex networks that sometimes containclosed loops. Such catalytic cycles tend to interlock to form closed loops in which theenzymes produced in one cycle act as catalysts in the subsequent cycle. These ‘hypercycles’turn out to be not only remarkable stable, but also capable of self-replicating and ofcorrecting replication errors, which meant that they can conserve and transmit complexinformation. One of the most striking lifelike properties of hypercycles is that they canevolve by passing through instabilities and creating successively higher levels of organizationthat are characterized by increasing diversity and richness of components and structures.Thus a Darwinian process of selection and retention may be at play even at the molecularlevel 22 . Jantsch noted that the far-from- equilibrium transition to a new dynamic system staterenews the capacity for entropy production - a process that he viewed as life in a broadsense 23 .This step from non-living to living systems was made by Humberto Maturana andhis former student Francisco Varela during the early 1970s. Maturana’s central insight wasthat the nervous system operates as a closed network of interactions, in which every changeof the interactive relations between certain components always results in a change of theinteractive relations of the same or of other components. He hypothesized that the circularorganization of the nervous system is the basic organization of all living systems. Livingsystems are organized in a closed causal circular process that allows for evolutionary changein the way the circularity is maintained, but not for the loss of the circularity itself. This alsoimplied that the components that specify the circular organization must also be producedand maintained by it.They coined the term autopoietic system. An autopoietic system is a network ofproduction processes in which the function of each component is to participate in theproduction or transformation of other components in the network. In this way, the networkcontinually ‘makes itself’. The product of the system’s operation is its own organization. Thisis the self-generating property. The second property consists in the fact that this productionincludes the creation of a boundary - for instance the membrane of a cell - that specifies thedomain of the network’s operations and defines the system as a unit 24 . Autopoietic systemsare self-bounded, and the boundary is an integral part of the network. The final property is selfperpetuating,which denotes the fact that all components are continually replaced by thesystem’s processes of transformation.Autopoietic systems are organizationally closed in the sense that its order and behaviorare not imposed by the environment but are established by the system itself. In other words,living systems are autonomous. This does not mean they are isolated from theirenvironment. On the contrary, they interact with the environment through a continualexchange of energy and matter. Here the dissipative feature of open systems is applicable.Living systems are structurally open for matter and energy, which flow continually through thesystem, but the system maintains a stable form, and it does so autonomously through selforganization25 .22 Capra (1996), p.95.23 Jantsch (1980), p.42.24 Capra (1996), p.98.25 Capra, (1996), p.267.129
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Science, Strategy and WarThe Strate
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We are survival machines.Richard Da
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CONTENTS1. INTRODUCTION............
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Introduction.......................
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1. INTRODUCTIONTo flourish and grow
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testing of the decision selected by
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momentum and tempo, which in combin
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tracing the history of war Boyd saw
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in general. Referring to Karl Poppe
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constitute an argument about strate
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2. ON STRATEGY AND STRATEGIC THEORY
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its internal make up and the dynami
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strategist’s task is not to creat
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must be holistic, paying due respec
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Such a division can also be discern
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sensibility that would be capable o
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Why strategic theorizing is difficu
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truth is independent of human belie
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policy, is policy’ 107 . Subseque
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of systems of thought which will gu
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Science and Strategic TheoryDominan
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the major intellectual currents tha
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friction, which is infused with the
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3. THE SEEDS OF A THEORY AND THE FE
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Slowly his writings matured. In 196
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This situation also reflected the d
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at the cost of airspeed depletion)
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and air power theorists are notably
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Lawrence wrote Liddell Hart that fo
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The Indirect ApproachThe foregoing
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in weakening the opponent’s will
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standing in a direct theoretical li
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perfect information, so Chapter 9 r
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According with the enemy is the ass
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preconceived battle plan depends up
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mental or moral, instead they aim t
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calculation, based on the assumptio
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Turbulent environmentThis convictio
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the introduction of the M1 Abrams t
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campaign with which it was most com
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The debates resulted via the improv
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emphasized being more responsive, a
Page 88 and 89: 4. SCIENCE: BOYD’S FOUNTAINKnowle
Page 90 and 91: The list exceeds 20 pages. Indeed,
Page 92 and 93: counter-culture. He had read severa
Page 94 and 95: Popper’s Evolutionary Epistemolog
Page 96 and 97: species. Finally, theories, unlike
Page 98 and 99: discovery’ 39 . ‘We have here t
Page 100 and 101: for failure and an encouragement fo
Page 102 and 103: investigated and a change of the ru
Page 104 and 105: Paradigm shiftBeyond NewtonIn the p
Page 106 and 107: philosophical aspects, Prigogine an
Page 108 and 109: uncertainty in another “conjugate
Page 110 and 111: The link between thermodynamics and
Page 112 and 113: As Ludwig Bertalanffy noted, the gr
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Page 116 and 117: the system by the environment or ot
Page 118 and 119: A slightly more complex model from
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Page 122 and 123: The model below shows this process
Page 124 and 125: The process of learning, and the pr
Page 126 and 127: Positive indicatorsNegative indicat
Page 128 and 129: In Patterns of Conflict he also emp
Page 130 and 131: progressed and developed a new lang
Page 132 and 133: advances in knowledge, adaptation,
Page 134 and 135: TraditionalReductionismLinear causa
Page 136 and 137: exist only because they are open. T
Page 140 and 141: It preserves the web-like pattern o
Page 142 and 143: Orientation shapes the character of
Page 144 and 145: either. The edge of chaos is where
Page 146 and 147: The final region is the boundary be
Page 148 and 149: Levels of adaptationThis naturally
Page 150 and 151: Operate inside adversary’s OODA l
Page 152 and 153: Organisms which are internally cons
Page 154 and 155: The last mentioned feature implies
Page 156 and 157: mathematics, in short chaos and com
Page 158 and 159: Such efforts have lead to suggestio
Page 160 and 161: processes are maintained simultaneo
Page 162 and 163: Boyd’s views on command and contr
Page 164 and 165: Several of these ideas surface in B
Page 166 and 167: problems they seek to comprehend or
Page 168 and 169: ehavior in reaction to what the oth
Page 170 and 171: sciences, which he termed a new int
Page 172 and 173: egulations, orders, and other means
Page 174 and 175: as focus for military planning on t
Page 176 and 177: A Discourse and the scientific Zeit
Page 178 and 179: Sharpening our mental capabilities
Page 180 and 181: perceive it’ 184 . By trying to c
Page 182 and 183: Ensure a large variety of conceptua
Page 184 and 185: The main intent of the effort is to
Page 186 and 187: e true. Thus tested and refined, it
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particulars or we can start with th
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inconsistencies may emerge to stifl
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although not exact1y -- since the u
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eality 29 . As indicated earlier, t
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He then incorporates a section of t
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Attack enemy’s plans as best poli
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planning process which included var
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Boyd does not find fault with these
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oth methods the same processes seem
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strategic planning in light of the
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gauged all the conditions indicated
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Blitzkrieg disrupts the connections
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- a medium to realize superior inte
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Only the fourth condition relates t
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Shape and exploit crises environmen
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penetrate an adversary to subvert,
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Maneuver Conflict - as practices by
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In light of his previous observatio
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difficult) subordinates that accept
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This then leads to the second wrap-
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mask one’s own system against any
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dimension on the behavior of a stra
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Theme for Disintegration and Collap
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Strategic AimDiminish adversary’s
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ApplicationRevisiting Sun Tzu, rein
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The general underlying idea of Coun
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to victory by connecting them to th
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destruction and creation to his inv
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Boyd’s inspiration also came in p
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The Big O: Orientation.The ensuing
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implicit cross-referencing process
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Magnify adversary’s friction and
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This differs from traditional views
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patterns that produced success in m
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General SurveyIn this section his i
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city, however, the situation is qui
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“Destruction and Creation”, by
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So Boyd discerns within the adversa
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On isolation and interactionPhysica
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The Art of Success:Shape or influen
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The meaning of strategy and the art
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however is not much different, but
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Examples from EngineeringSome Outst
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words, in order to gain a richer im
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what applies to science and enginee
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technology, is connected to the gam
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The real OODA loop270
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This relates the OODA loop clearly
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for a process of learning, of evolv
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thing any system is constantly faci
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communication and explicit directio
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8. CONCLUSIONThe history of science
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found himself in. To Sun Tzu Boyd a
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strategy. He elaborates on several
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ehavior, demonstrating the value of
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film, sociology, geography, literar
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That social scientific knowledge, o
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undertakes to improve its own perfo
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The reflexive nature of modern soci
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the context within which the situat
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“road maps for action”, but rat
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all point at the changes the techno
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central sign of post-modernity. In
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a revolution in military affairs oc
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This will affect war and warfare:
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Athena’s Camp. They see swarming
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commanders to improve their decisio
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Military War Beyond Military War No
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schemas. Gell-Mann developed the id
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extent in the novel approach for th
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ANNEX B: BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PATTERNS O
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LeBoeuf, Michael, “GMP, The Great
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Wolf, Eric R., “Peasant Wars of t
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Bartolomasi, Paolo: ‘The Realitie
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Cohen, William S.: Report of the Qu
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Fukuyama, Francis: The Great Disrup
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Hughes, Daniel: ‘Abuses of German
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Lewin, Roger, and Birute Regine:
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Murdock, Paul, ‘Principles of War
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Rosenau, James, N.: ‘Many Damn Th
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Walt, Stephen M.: ‘Rigor or Rigor
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