Strategy FOR Action
Review by Peter Hore
Reproduced with the kind permission of WARSHIPS International Fleet Review magazine of which Peter is the Associate Editor. This review is from the March 2011 edition (out on 25 Feb).
‘Strategy for Action: Using Force Wisely in the 21st Century’ by Commodore Steve Jermy (Knightstone £9.99, paperback) is an important book, that should become a must-read in armed services’ colleges and government offices worldwide. Jermy, who writes with the authority of having flown combat missions in the Falklands War in 1982, and subsequently holding several seagoing and Fleet Air Arm commands, writes cogently without the impenetrable excesses of academic or services speak. He is uniquely able to write this book and qualified to do so by his personal experience of war at sea, in the air and on land, including the conflict in Afghanistan.
The book opens with a pithy foreword by Major General Julian Thompson, in which the man who led 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines in the Falklands criticises Britain’s army and air force for having no strategy but institutional survival. Thompson, who these days is a leading academic and military historian of note, endorses Jermy’s argument that national or grand strategy must start by appreciating what is the political issue in contention and also the desired political outcome.
‘Strategy for Action’ is divided into clear sections, on the nature of war and the role of strategy, a summary of strategic theoreticians and their theories, the practice of strategy making, and Jermy’s own conclusions. In passing there is much criticism that the war in Afghanistan is being fought without a strategy, that military officers are so absorbed in the business of operations and tactics, that they cannot see the wood for trees. Jermy’s advice in 2008 to the previous Labour government in the UK fell on deaf ears. Hopefully ‘Strategy for Action’ will be read and inwardly digested by the current generation of policymakers and strategists in Whitehall and Downing Street. Jermy’s argument is that no one should start war without being clear in his mind what he wants to achieve and how he intends to do so. That person, or persons, may fail to achieve critical political objectives, and if there is no strategy then he will certainly fail - and the outcome of war may be quite unexpected. This is the first all-new book on strategy and strategy-making in a long time. It is highly readable, and essential reading for anyone making or likely to be asked to implement strategy.
•There will be a more in-depth consideration of ‘Strategy for Action’ in a future edition of this magazine.
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