The Nature of War: How is War directed? The Problem of Strategy

The lectures are free and open to all. Registration is required for the symposium

Professor Hew Strachan (Chichele Professor of the History of War, University of Oxford)

Lecture 1: How is War directed? The Problem of Strategy

Strategy has attracted much recent attention in UK public policy debates, principally because of its absence from the direction of current conflicts. Before 1945 strategic thought used history as its core discipline but since then history has either dropped out of the equation or been misapplied. There was admittedly an apparent contradiction in strategic theory’s attention to the past; the principal policy function of strategy is predictive and its application in real time pragmatic. Here the challenges are to reconcile not just the perspectives of strategic theory and strategy in practice, but also the differences between civilians and the military. Finding satisfactory institutional frameworks for strategy-making is as important as thinking strategically.

Events in the series

Humanitas
The Nature of War: How is War directed? The Problem of Strategy 03 February 2011, Room 1, Mill Lane Lecture Rooms, 8 Mill Lane, Cambridge
The Nature of War: Why fight? The Problem of Combat Motivation 10 February 2011, Room 1, Mill Lane Lecture Rooms, 8 Mill Lane, Cambridge
The Nature of War: How does War end? The Problem of Victory (and Defeat) 17 February 2011, Room 1, Mill Lane Lecture Rooms, 8 Mill Lane, Cambridge
The Nature of War: a Humanitas Visiting Professorships Symposium 18 February 2011, The Møller Centre, Churchill College, University of Cambridge

The Humanitas Chair in War Studies has been made possible by the generous support of Sir Ronald Grierson

The Humanitas Visiting Professorship in War Studies aims to debate issues within this cross-disciplinary field in a historical perspective, especially in light of the policies and military tactics of modern and contemporary warfare. Political, social, psychological and cultural theories of war will be explored through discussions between academics - from history, politics and international studies, English and other disciplines - and real practitioners from the armed services and government.