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"Strategy Strikes Back" is a collection of twenty-eight essays discussing a broad range of military topics, drawing on lessons illustrated by the Star Wars body of fiction, both movies and literature. In addition to the main focus, strategy, the essays address:
- Nation building/rebuilding
- The civil military divide - the disconnect between the civilian population and the military
- The implications of emerging military technology
- Just War theory and practice
- How dictators rise
- Ethics, beyond Just War
- The arguments of Mahan and Corbett replayed with starships
- Hybrid warfare
- The practical and moral implications of pre-emptive attacks
- Organizational culture
- And, of course, the application of military force.
Wide-ranging, with more than thirty contributors, the essays vary in style and content, but are consistently well thought out.
My favorite chapter was "Lightsabers and Deathstars" discussing complexity versus simplicity of arms, although it misses the implications of training time requirements weapons discussed. The runner up for me was "Darth Vader's Failed Counterinsurgency Strategy", a staff meeting of Imperial leadership attempting to work through what went wrong with their counterinsurgency operations.
The book is supremely and shamelessly nerdy. Military theory, real military theory, more theory than one can acquire from board, computer, or video games, is in many ways narrow, unquestionably intellectual, and invites obsession; the stuff of nerd focus. Star Wars, of course, is iconically nerdy. So take some of the most significant military and strategy thinkers of the moment, sift through them for the ones who are also Star Wars affecianados, and solicit their thoughts. That was the process for editing this book. The book is splendid grist for discussion for members of either circle of nerds, but a joy for people who belong to both clubs.
E.M. Van Court
- Hardcover: 272 pages
- Publisher: Potomac Books (May 1, 2018)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1640120335
- ISBN-13: 978-1640120334
- Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1 x 9.2 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
- Customer Reviews: 60 customer reviews
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#412,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #485 in Iraq War History (Books)
- #877 in Military Strategy History (Books)
- #245 in Science Fiction & Fantasy Movies
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