the strategic dimension to international relations has been by far the most significant of
the influences shaping events.
As the title suggests, this work is a somewhat experimental exercise in what military
analysts would call ‘combined arms’. Specifically, the following chapters express an
endeavour to combine the strengths of international relations, history and strategic
studies. The result is a strategic history of the modern world. The book can be approached
both as a historically grounded introduction to strategic studies and as a strategically
grounded introduction to modern international relations.
The core of the book comprises a body of historical chapters, fifteen to be precise,
which explain the course of history in strategic perspective from the late eighteenth
century to the present. Those chapters are supplemented by four others, which: (1)
identify themes and specify contexts; (2) outline the enduring theory of war; (3) treat
irregular warfare and terrorism as fairly distinctive phenomena; and (4) consider the
record of new world orders over the past two centuries, as well as the meaning and
challenge of peace.
Overall, as the title claims, this is a venture in explaining the strategic perspective upon
modern history, its ever-dynamic content and its often bloody consequences.
Questions
- What is strategic history?
- What are the benefits of a strategic perspective?
- What are the potential dangers in adopting a strategic perspective upon
history? - Why are some scholars sceptical of ‘grand narratives’?
Introduction: strategic history 3Key points
- War is the most powerful influence on international relations.
- Strategy can refer to grand strategy or to military strategy. The former includes
the latter. - Nearly every country has been made by war.
- The motives for war have been stable through the ages: fear, honour and
interest. - Strategic history provides a grand narrative that serves well enough to explain
the course of events.