Evolution of Strategic Thought and Military Thinkers
The exam expects you to trace how strategic theory moved from battlefield maxims to a discipline integrating politics, economics and technology, and to attribute ideas correctly.
Landmarks
- Kautilya's Arthashastra is a full theory of statecraft: saptanga (seven limbs), shadgunya (sandhi, vigraha, asana, yana, samshraya, dvaidhibhava) and the mandala of friendly, neutral and hostile states.
- Sun Tzu: winning without fighting is the acme of skill; deception, surprise, momentum and the orthodox/extraordinary pair.
- Thucydides anchors realism: the strong do what they can, the weak suffer what they must.
- Jomini systematised Napoleonic warfare into principles, lines of operation and interior lines; Clausewitz analysed war politically and psychologically.
- Mahan grounded sea power in six conditions and demanded concentrated battle fleets and choke points; Corbett subordinated maritime to land strategy and allowed limited sea war. Douhet and Mitchell claimed air power could strike the enemy will directly. Liddell Hart favoured dislocation over attrition. Brodie, Wohlstetter and Schelling built nuclear theory; Mao and Giap built protracted people's war; Boyd's OODA loop and Warden's five rings reshaped targeting.
Worked example
Should India seek sea control or sea denial in the Indian Ocean? A Mahanian answer concentrates a fleet to win command of the sea; a Corbettian answer treats command as temporary and contingent on the land campaign, permitting denial through submarines and shore-based aircraft. The reasoning must follow from the political objective, not from preference.
Traps
Giving Sun Tzu a theory of decisive battle; crediting Clausewitz with the indirect approach; confusing Douhet's command of the air with Mitchell; forgetting Mao's three phases of strategic defensive, stalemate and offensive.