The Troubled American Way of War

Since the end of World War II, the United States has been the world's pre-eminent military power. Yet it has suffered as much failure as it has experienced victory. The bloody stalemate in Korea, defeats in Vietnam and Afghanistan, and difficulties fighting Iraqi insurgents reflect persistent problems with US military strategy. Beyond these conflicts, soldiers and civilian analysts have flirted, since Hiroshima, with highly dangerous ideas about waging and winning a nuclear war.

In this astute critique, leading defense expert John Arquilla identifies the blind spots preventing the US from achieving sustained military success. Drawing on a range of sources, including high-level insiders, he argues that the US has fixated on three aspects of military affairs – strategic air power, nuclear weaponry, and informational/computational analytics – to its detriment and at the expense of effective innovation. This matters not only for the US and its allies, but for its broader impact on the future of war.

Given the continuing challenges posed by insurgents and terrorists, a new round of great-power competition, and increasing reliance on AI, the troubled American way of war urgently needs redesigning. At stake are the stability and security of global order.