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

This requires a grand strategy that creates the favorable conditions. At this level this implies,according to Boyd, thatFor success over the long haul […] one needs some unifying vision that can be used toattract the uncommitted as well as pump-up friendly resolve and drive and drain-away orsubvert adversary resolve and drive.[…]what is needed is a vision rooted in human nature sonoble, so attractive that it not only attracts the uncommitted and magnifies the spirit andstrength of its adherent, but also undermines the dedication and determination of anycompetitors or adversaries 64 .This unifying vision isA grand ideal, overarching theme, or noble philosophy that represents a coherent paradigmwithin which individuals as well as societies can shape and adapt to unfolding circumstances- yet offers a way to expose flaws of competing or adversary systems 65 .Thus at the grand strategic level Boyd addresses the societal level and here he does not talkof rapid OODA looping but of an attractive and agreeable ideology which fosters internalunity and offers a “moral high ground” which is conducive to creating alliances. It favorscooperation or at least does not unnecessarily arouse animosity. It must act as:a catalyst or beacon around which to evolve those qualities that permit a collective entity ororganic whole to improve its stature in the scheme of things 66 .One level lower, he formulates his view of the general strategic aim in purely neo-Darwinianterms as:Diminish adversary’s capacity while improving our capacity to adapt as an organic whole, sothat our adversary cannot cope while we can cope with events/efforts as they unfold.Strategy is geared more specifically towards the military organization. As at the grandstrategiclevel, it is not the temporal dimension which is the prime focus, but the set offactors (or in Boyd’s words “connections”) that glue the enemy system together at thestrategic level. Boyd’s view on strategy makes it comparable to level two adaptationmentioned above in which the emphasis lies on schemata, for the strategy should:Penetrate adversary’s moral-mental-physical being to dissolve his moral fiber, disorient hismental images, disrupt his operations, and overload his system, as well as subvert, shatter,seize or otherwise subdue those moral-mental-physical bastions, connections, or activitiesthat he depends upon[…] 67 .At the Grand-Tactical level Boyd shifts his attention towards the enemy command system andthe connections between units that hold them together so they operate coherently at theoperational level. Together with the tactical level it can be compared with direct adaptation, inwhich time pressure is more prominently a factor than in the form two levels. The patternfor success at the grand tactical level is to:64 Ibid, p.143.65 Ibid, p.144.66 Ibid, p.143.67 Ibid, p.141.139