SUMMERS : On strategy (előszó)
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION
This is the fourth Army War College printing of On Strategy since the spring of 1981. On Strategy has revitalized the US Army's interest in the study of strategy and has strengthened our view of the fundamental nature of the relationship between the political and the military. The book's widespread use bears witness to its import: The National War College, the Naval War College, the Air War College, and the Marine Corps Amphibious School all use On Strategy as a student text. At Fort Leavenworth, the US Arrny Command and General Staff College and the Combined Arms and Staff Service School also use it in their curriculum. Moreover, interest in the book is growing in military circles overseas: the Australian Army Staff College has ordered copies for use as a text; the Republic of Mexico is translating the book into Spanish for use by its military personnel; and a Korean translation has been issued to all Korean General Officers. Finally, interest from civilian academic circles has prompted commercial publication by Presidio Press, and the book has been reviewed extensively in the national media. Most recently the work was featured as the January 1983 selection of the Military Book Club.
More than a strategic appraisal of the Vietnam war, On Strategy is a politico-military treatise of rare insight offering practical application of the 19th Century definitive work of Carl von Clausewitz on the nature of war. The author uses our experience in Vietnam to analyze the evolution of strategic and tactical doctrine in the US Army during the 20th Century, with emphasis on the years since World War II. He makes plain the absolute need for a US President to gain the support of the American people before leading the nation into a war and the requirement that such a war also be made the focal point for both the Executive and Legislative Branches. This need for marshalling the national will to fight is something that we in the military tend to overlook; but its essential nature was vividly illustrated during the Vietnam war. The author also stresses the necessity that US governmental leaders responsible for national defense recognize the critical distinction between preparation for and deterrence of war on the one hand, and actual conduct of war on the other.
As it enters its fourth printing, On Strategy continues to make a major contribution to a better understanding of the Vietnam war and a deeper appreciation of strategy and the art of war.
THOMAS F. HEALY
Major General, USA
Commandant
US Army War College
Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania
30 November 1983
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