What Good Is Military Strategy? An Analysis of Strategy and Effectiveness in the First Arab-Israeli War
What good is military strategy? According to the scholarship on military effectiveness, the answer is “not much”—strategy does not significantly affect the performance of armies in combat. Strategic theory scholarship disagrees and describes four specific mechanisms linking strategy to military effe...
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doaj-a992e0ff4c8047e0beb75e00c8ea062d2021-02-11T07:03:19ZengScandinavian Military Studies Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies2596-38562021-01-014110.31374/sjms.6550What Good Is Military Strategy? An Analysis of Strategy and Effectiveness in the First Arab-Israeli WarJeffrey Meiser0Temmo Cramer1Ryan Turner-Brady2University of PortlandUniversity of PortlandUniversity of PortlandWhat good is military strategy? According to the scholarship on military effectiveness, the answer is “not much”—strategy does not significantly affect the performance of armies in combat. Strategic theory scholarship disagrees and describes four specific mechanisms linking strategy to military effectiveness: Exploiting weaknesses in the adversary’s strategy; causing psychological dislocation in the enemy commanders; creating a favorable center of gravity and pattern of war; and focusing resources and controlling violence in service of political goals. This essay uses a case study from the southern front of the First Arab-Israeli War to explore how strategy affects military performance. We find that Israeli General Yigal Allon’s military strategy significantly increased the combat efficiency and battlefield performance of the Israeli Defense Force, consistent with the mechanisms suggested by strategic theory. These findings suggest that military strategy is indeed an important determinant of military effectiveness.https://sjms.nu/articles/65military strategymilitary effectivenesswarstrategyarab-israeli war |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Jeffrey Meiser Temmo Cramer Ryan Turner-Brady |
spellingShingle |
Jeffrey Meiser Temmo Cramer Ryan Turner-Brady What Good Is Military Strategy? An Analysis of Strategy and Effectiveness in the First Arab-Israeli War Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies military strategy military effectiveness war strategy arab-israeli war |
author_facet |
Jeffrey Meiser Temmo Cramer Ryan Turner-Brady |
author_sort |
Jeffrey Meiser |
title |
What Good Is Military Strategy? An Analysis of Strategy and Effectiveness in the First Arab-Israeli War |
title_short |
What Good Is Military Strategy? An Analysis of Strategy and Effectiveness in the First Arab-Israeli War |
title_full |
What Good Is Military Strategy? An Analysis of Strategy and Effectiveness in the First Arab-Israeli War |
title_fullStr |
What Good Is Military Strategy? An Analysis of Strategy and Effectiveness in the First Arab-Israeli War |
title_full_unstemmed |
What Good Is Military Strategy? An Analysis of Strategy and Effectiveness in the First Arab-Israeli War |
title_sort |
what good is military strategy? an analysis of strategy and effectiveness in the first arab-israeli war |
publisher |
Scandinavian Military Studies |
series |
Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies |
issn |
2596-3856 |
publishDate |
2021-01-01 |
description |
What good is military strategy? According to the scholarship on military effectiveness, the answer is “not much”—strategy does not significantly affect the performance of armies in combat. Strategic theory scholarship disagrees and describes four specific mechanisms linking strategy to military effectiveness: Exploiting weaknesses in the adversary’s strategy; causing psychological dislocation in the enemy commanders; creating a favorable center of gravity and pattern of war; and focusing resources and controlling violence in service of political goals. This essay uses a case study from the southern front of the First Arab-Israeli War to explore how strategy affects military performance. We find that Israeli General Yigal Allon’s military strategy significantly increased the combat efficiency and battlefield performance of the Israeli Defense Force, consistent with the mechanisms suggested by strategic theory. These findings suggest that military strategy is indeed an important determinant of military effectiveness. |
topic |
military strategy military effectiveness war strategy arab-israeli war |
url |
https://sjms.nu/articles/65 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT jeffreymeiser whatgoodismilitarystrategyananalysisofstrategyandeffectivenessinthefirstarabisraeliwar AT temmocramer whatgoodismilitarystrategyananalysisofstrategyandeffectivenessinthefirstarabisraeliwar AT ryanturnerbrady whatgoodismilitarystrategyananalysisofstrategyandeffectivenessinthefirstarabisraeliwar |
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