Title: Weapons don't make war: policy, strategy, and military technology
Abstract:Weaponry does not equal strategy, argues Colin Gray, but two are often confused, resulting in such linguistic errors as weapons. There may be an interactive relationship between policy, strategy and w...Weaponry does not equal strategy, argues Colin Gray, but two are often confused, resulting in such linguistic errors as weapons. There may be an interactive relationship between policy, strategy and weaponry but, he contends, policy and strategy always take front seat. Gray presents in Weapons Don't Make War, a statement of interrelations among policy-making, strategic planning and military technology. He argues that policy shapes strategy and gives meaning to weapons (not vice versa); that without clear policy guidance, weapons-acquisitions process degenerates into political arm-wrestling; that military technology is only one of many servants of defence policy (and by no means most important); that arms-race concept creates more confusion than clarity in studying international security; that pursuit of arms control is seriously flawed by belief that international conflict can be reduced to a problem of administration and management; that uncertainty is an essential condition of - not simply a problem for - defence policy; and that nuclear-age history confirms much of accepted wisdom of modern strategic theory. Gray provides a detailed and multi-angled examination of just how policy and weapons influence - or fail to influence - each other. His arguments in this book are not time-bound; they hold regardless of evolution of Eastern Europe, or of shifts in US policy and strategy. They aim to offer insight into the basics of national security not only in post-Cold War era, but for all time.Read More
Publication Year: 1993
Publication Date: 1993-06-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 29
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