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

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extent in the novel approach for thinking about strategy, making strategic theory and makingstrategy, and in introducing current scientific developments into strategic theory.Although Boyd would probably have disapproved of this label, in this aspect of hiswork also lies the justification to regard his work to fall very comfortably within the postmodernframework of the social sciences, and Boyd can be considered the first post-modernstrategist both in content and in his approach to making strategy and strategic theory, in lightof the similarities of his work and his sources with moderate post-modern social theorists,with developments in post-modern security and strategic studies, and because of theeconomic or technologist interpretation of post-modernism, which has spawned correlatingviews of post-modern war and post-modern warfare.Boyd furthermore infected a generation of senior military and political leaders withthe virus of novelty and led them to think in different ways about the conduct of war. Itinspired AirLand Battle, C2W, Information Warfare concepts and US Marines doctrine.Today his ideas inform emerging warfighting concepts such as Network-Centric Warfare.Those arguments alone would argue for closely studying and appreciating the incredibleachievement of Boyd. But his influence is even more widespread if unconscious in most ofus. Reading through Boyd’s work nowadays one does not encounter novelty or experiencedifficulty following his arguments and accepting his ideas. His language and logic, his ideas,terms and concepts are part and parcel now of the military conceptual frame of reference.Western military organizations have to a large extent internalized Boyd’s concepts, andperhaps even learned Boyd’s way of thinking.Moreover, Boyd’s work offers important insights for understanding the threats ofthe “post- 9/11” world. So called asymmetric responses to western modes of warfare toobecome a natural feature only to be expected from adversaries. An adversary is a complexadaptive system attempting to adapt, to survive and prosper. The attacks of “9/11”introduced the contours of a new warform, and the West has been challenged to understandthe nature of this new game of survival. In no small measure is it waged in the cognitive andmoral domain. Ideas such as interaction and isolation can be traced in counter terrorismpublications and policy, and the need for rapid adaptation can be seen in the changes inWestern intelligence services and the creation of homeland security organizations in directresponse to the threats which has blurred the boundaries of external and internal security.Orientation is indeed key.Azar Gat said that:New and significant intellectual constructions usually emerge at times of fundamental change orparadigmatic shifts, when prevailing ways of interpreting and coping with reality no longer seemadequate. Rather than being alone in their views, the thinkers who generate them usually maketheir names by early sensing, conceptualizing, and turning into philosophical and politicalprograms the feelings and notions which are beginning to emerge, more or less hazily, aroundthem 136 .Those words apply to the position, approach and relevance of John Boyd. Boyd’s work iscomprehensive, novel and important.136 Azar Gat (1998), p.307.316
ANNEX A : BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DESTRUCTION ANDCREATION1. Beveridge, W.I.B, The Art of Scientific Investigation, Vintage Books, Third Edition 19572. Boyd, John R., Destruction and Creation, 23 Mar 19763. Brown, G. Spencer, Laws of Form, Julian Press, Inc. 19724. Conant, James Bryant, Two Modes of Thought, Credo Perspectives, Simon and Schuster, 19705. DeBono, Edward, New Think, Avon Books 19716. DeBono, Edward, Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step, Harper Colophon Books 19737. Foster, David, The Intelligent Universe, Putnam 19758. Fromm, Erich, The Crisis of Psychoanalysis, Fawcett Premier Books 19719. Gamow, George, Thirty Years That Shook Physics, Anchor Books 196610. Gardner, Howard, The Quest for Mind, Vintage Books 197411. Georgescu-Roegen, Nicholas, The Entropy Law and the Economic Process, Harvard U. Press 197112. Gödel, Kurt, On Formally Undecidable Propositions of the Principia Mathematica and Related Systems,pages 3-38, ‘The Undecidable’, Raven Press 196513. Heilbroner, Robert L., An Inquiry into the Human Prospect, Norton and Co. 197414. Heisenberg, Werner, Physics and Philosophy, Harper Torchbooks 196215. Heisenberg, Werner, Across the Frontiers, World Perspectives, Harper and Row 197416. Hoyle, Fred, Encounter with the Future, Credo Perspectives, Simon and Schuster 1968.17. Hoyle, Fred, The New Face of Science, Perspectives in Humanism, World Publishing Co. 197118. Kramer, Edna E., The Nature and Growth of Modern Mathematics, Fawcett Permier Books, 197419. Kuhn, Thomas S., The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, University of Chicago Press 197020. Layzer, David, ‘The Arrow of Time’, Scientific American, December 197521. Levinson, Harry, The Exceptiona1 Executive, Mentor Books 197122. Maltz, Maxwell, Psycho-Cybernetics, Wilshire Book Co. 197123. Nagel, Ernest and Newman, James R., Gödel's Proof, New York U. Press 195824. Osborne, Alex F., Applied Imagination, Scribners and Sons 196325. Pearce, Joseph Chilton, The Crack in the Cosmic Egg, Pocket Book 197526. Pearce, Joseph Chilton, Exploring the Crack in the Cosmic Egg, Pocket Book 197527. Piaget, Jean, Structuralism, Harper Torchbooks 197128. Polanyi, Michael, Knowing and Being, University of Chicago Press 196929. Singh, Jagjit, Great Ideas of Modern Mathematics: Their Nature and Use, Dover 195930. Skinner, B.F., Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Bantam/Vintage Books 197231. Thompson, William Irwin, At the Edge of History, Harper Colophon Books 197232. Thompson, William Irwin, Evil and World Order, World Perspective, Harper and Row 197633. Tse-Tung, Mao, Four Essays on China and World Communism, Lancer Books 197234. Waismann, Friedrich, Introduction to Mathematical Thinking, Harper Torchbooks 195935. Watts, Alan, The Book, Vintage Books 197236. Yukawa, Bideki, Creativity and Intuition, Kodansha International LTD 1973317
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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
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4. SCIENCE: BOYD’S FOUNTAINKnowle
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The list exceeds 20 pages. Indeed,
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counter-culture. He had read severa
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Popper’s Evolutionary Epistemolog
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species. Finally, theories, unlike
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discovery’ 39 . ‘We have here t
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for failure and an encouragement fo
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investigated and a change of the ru
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Paradigm shiftBeyond NewtonIn the p
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philosophical aspects, Prigogine an
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uncertainty in another “conjugate
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The link between thermodynamics and
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As Ludwig Bertalanffy noted, the gr
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assessing deviation from coursecoun
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the system by the environment or ot
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A slightly more complex model from
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implementation of the right program
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The model below shows this process
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The process of learning, and the pr
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Positive indicatorsNegative indicat
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In Patterns of Conflict he also emp
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progressed and developed a new lang
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advances in knowledge, adaptation,
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TraditionalReductionismLinear causa
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exist only because they are open. T
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Concentration of chemical ANew stab
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It preserves the web-like pattern o
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Orientation shapes the character of
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either. The edge of chaos is where
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The final region is the boundary be
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Levels of adaptationThis naturally
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Operate inside adversary’s OODA l
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Organisms which are internally cons
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The last mentioned feature implies
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mathematics, in short chaos and com
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Such efforts have lead to suggestio
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processes are maintained simultaneo
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Boyd’s views on command and contr
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Several of these ideas surface in B
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problems they seek to comprehend or
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ehavior in reaction to what the oth
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sciences, which he termed a new int
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egulations, orders, and other means
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as focus for military planning on t
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A Discourse and the scientific Zeit
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Sharpening our mental capabilities
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perceive it’ 184 . By trying to c
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Ensure a large variety of conceptua
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The main intent of the effort is to
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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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Page 280 and 281: The real OODA loop270
Page 282 and 283: This relates the OODA loop clearly
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Page 286 and 287: thing any system is constantly faci
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Page 290 and 291: 8. CONCLUSIONThe history of science
Page 292 and 293: found himself in. To Sun Tzu Boyd a
Page 294 and 295: strategy. He elaborates on several
Page 296 and 297: ehavior, demonstrating the value of
Page 298 and 299: film, sociology, geography, literar
Page 300 and 301: That social scientific knowledge, o
Page 302 and 303: undertakes to improve its own perfo
Page 304 and 305: The reflexive nature of modern soci
Page 306 and 307: the context within which the situat
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Page 310 and 311: all point at the changes the techno
Page 312 and 313: central sign of post-modernity. In
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Page 316 and 317: This will affect war and warfare:
Page 318 and 319: Athena’s Camp. They see swarming
Page 320 and 321: commanders to improve their decisio
Page 322 and 323: Military War Beyond Military War No
Page 324 and 325: schemas. Gell-Mann developed the id
Page 328 and 329: ANNEX B: BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PATTERNS O
Page 330 and 331: LeBoeuf, Michael, “GMP, The Great
Page 332 and 333: Wolf, Eric R., “Peasant Wars of t
Page 334 and 335: Bartolomasi, Paolo: ‘The Realitie
Page 336 and 337: Cohen, William S.: Report of the Qu
Page 338 and 339: Fukuyama, Francis: The Great Disrup
Page 340 and 341: Hughes, Daniel: ‘Abuses of German
Page 342 and 343: Lewin, Roger, and Birute Regine:
Page 344 and 345: Murdock, Paul, ‘Principles of War
Page 346 and 347: Rosenau, James, N.: ‘Many Damn Th
Page 348 and 349: Walt, Stephen M.: ‘Rigor or Rigor
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