War is a complicated and destructive force that has consumed and bedevilled humanity for many thousands of years. Many commanders across history have made terrible decisions on how to conduct warfare, leading to innumerable military and civilian deaths and failures of geopolitical objectives that have led to more conflicts.
In his upcoming book How to Fight a War, conflict scholar and former British Army officer Dr Mike Martin takes the reader through the hard but elegant logic required to fight conclusive interstate wars that solves geopolitical problems and reduces the risk of future conflict. In cool and precise prose, he outlines how to orchestrate military forces, from infantry to information and from strategy to tactics.
Dr Martin, who is a senior visiting research fellow at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, discusses the importance of strategy, why land warfare is more decisive than its air and sea counterparts, his view on the most successful armed forces in military history and how nuclear weapons changed the nature of how powerful nations fight each other. He also reveals why he is convinced Ukraine will win its current war with Russia and how artificial intelligence will determine the course of military operations in the 21st century.
At a fundamental level, why do human beings fight wars?
People generally say that religion or ideology cause wars. Certainly they are involved, but there is a much deeper layer. At a very fundamental level humans fight to achieve status or belong to cohesive social groups. These two drives are profoundly rooted in our psychology, having been developed by evolution over millions of years.
Denne historien er fra Issue 116-utgaven av History of War.
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Denne historien er fra Issue 116-utgaven av History of War.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
COUPS & CHAOS
How the French armed forces lost the war in Algeria and almost destroyed French democracy in the process
BATTLE OF ALGIERS
When the Front de libération nationale FLN) took its war to the streets of the capital, France’s military responded with merciless wrath
THE RISE OF ALGERIAN RESISTANCE
How the anti-colonialist struggle around the globe helped inspire Algeria’s liberation movement to organise and fight back
ROOTS OF REVOLUTION
A century of French occupation led to a genocide in Algeria that provoked one of the bloodiest showdowns of the modern age
DWIGHT W BIRDWELL
In the opening hours of the North Vietnamese Tet Offensive, this Specialist Five led his armoured cavalry detachment in repulsing a fierce communist assault against Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon
THE FIVE STRATEGY AND LEADERSHIP
Phillips O’Brien discusses how this quintet of national leaders impacted the course of the Second World War
Great Battles FLODDEN
On the morning of 9 September 1513, King James lV of Scotland stood atop Flodden Hill with what seemed an insurmountable advantage over the English. Yet by the day's end he would lay slain and his army shattered
FERDINAND 'THE BLOODY'
Known for his brutal martial punishment and execution of his own men, Ferdinand Schérner’s ruthlessness was matched only by his devotion to Nazi ideology
AIRBORNE UNDER SIEGE ARNHEM
For nine days the heroic 1st Airborne fought desperately, waiting vainly for relief that never came
SCANDINAVIA UNDER ATTACK
Hitler’s forces smash through Denmark and Norway ina grim foretaste of the terrible fate awaiting the rest of Western Europe
