Working Group 10 Strategy

Working Group 10 addresses military strategy.  A strategy is a plan of action or policy intended to achieve an objective (OED). The essence of military strategy is that it is pursued in opposition to at least one sentient adversary. This working group overlaps with Working Group 1 War Studies, which addresses mainly the operational and tactical levels of military studies and the conduct of war, and Working Group 6 Security and Defence Policy, which addresses mainly the national security and governmental policy aspects of security. For small democratic countries, the objectives of military strategy are assumed to be set by government.

Thinking strategically is not the same as thinking about strategy. A person might lecture competently on strategic thinking and the history of strategy yet not perform well at strategic games, and playing games well isn't necessarily an indicator of strategic acumen.

 

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Current Chairs and Contacts for Working groups. 

Dirk Heinzmann

German Defence Liaison to the Austrian National Defence Academy, dirk.heinzmann@bmlv.gv.at 

 

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Lieutenant Colonel Dirk Heinzmann is the German liaison officer to the Austrian National Defence Academy.  He has served at  the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College Hamburg, is the Associate Editor of Southern Space Studies (Springer), and researches in the area of higher education and educational technology. 

Past Chairs:

Wolfgang Peischel was the inaugural chair for the Working Group on Strategy when it was formed in 2019. 

Thomas Pankratz, 2019-2020, Thomas.Pankratz@bmlv.gv.at 

Scope: the aim and purpose of the Working Group

The Strategy working group seeks to enable the development and the teaching of strategies appropriate to small democratic countries. In this endeavour, it coordinates with Working Group 1 War Studies and Working Group 6 Security and Defence Policy.

Strategy implies coherent action to achieve objectives in the face of opposition or hostile intent. For the 2020 Conference, "Military Sciences vs Open Sciences with a scent of Covid,"  the focus was on new ways to understand the strategic risks of sharing sensitive information or research results. The concept of defending against the consequences of pandemic and the risks of weaponized disease were also considered.

Keyword descriptors

Strategy, gaming, warfare, higher command, strategic design, developing strategy, deterrence, deterring/compelling, strategic assessments, critical infrastructure, national will, military power, multidimensional power, 

Topics addressed 

The following sample for 2019 is an indicator of papers accepted by this working group:

  • BERZINS, Janis, Center for Security and Strategic Research, National Defense Academy of Latvia, “The Theory and Practice of New Generation Warfare: the case of Ukraine and Syria.”
  • CALHAÇO, Major Nuno Miguel dos Santos Rosa, Portuguese Military University Institute, “Geopolitical and geostrategic analysis of Venezuela: an area of European strategic interest,”
  • HACAGA, Maciej, War Studies University Poland, “Interdisciplinary study of energy security: challenging the liberal order.”
  • MILEVSKI, Lukas, Leiden University,  “De Quoi S’Agit-Il? What is Strategic Studies All About?”
  • RASKA, Michael, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore, “Strategic Competition, Emerging Technologies, and Future of Conflict in East Asia”
  • SOBECKI, Nicholas, Department of Political Science, University of Alabama, “Effects of process on development of strategies,”
  • WILCZEWSKA, Alicja, War Studies University, “The Propaganda Is Dead, Long Live the Propaganda.” 
  • ZAWADZKI, Tomasz, War Studies University, Poland, “feedback loops in a dynamic model of information warfare.”

Current Working Group Activities

  • The working group is actively engaged in writing and seeking authors for the strategy section of the Springer Handbook of Military Sciences

History of the Working Group

WG10 Strategy is a new working group inaugurated at the 11th annual conference, hosted by the Austrian National Defence Academy in Vienna in 2019. Strategy had previously been addressed by WG6 Security, Defence Policy, and Strategy. 

Related Contact information

Centre for National Strategic Studies, Canadian Forces College, Toronto