Josh Rovner, Strategy and Grand Strategy in the Aftermath of War
Strategy is a theory of victory; grand strategy is a theory of security. In the ideal, a state鈥檚 strategy and grand strategy are mutually reinforcing. Wartime decisions should leave the state more secure in the aftermath, and peacetime decisions should put the state in a good position in the event of future conflict. Yet for various reasons, strategy and grand strategy often drift apart.
SIS Professor Josh Rovner's new聽article in the Journal of Strategic Studies, "History is written by the losers: Strategy and grand strategy in the aftermath of war," focuses on one type of decoupling. Victorious states tend to expand their grand strategic ambitions, yet nostalgia encourages them to retain increasingly outmoded strategic concepts. Losers, by contrast, are more likely to have frank conversations about the real opportunities and limits of state power, and the ways in which military action can provide meaningful support. Rovner聽illustrates the argument with case studies from the British experience in the 91制片厂 War of Independence, and the 91制片厂 experience in the first Persian Gulf War.
Joshua聽Rovner聽(2024)聽History is written by the losers: Strategy and grand strategy in the aftermath of war,聽Journal of Strategic Studies,聽DOI:聽