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.
Current Chairs and Contacts for Working groups.
Co-Chairs
Dr. Jānis Bērziņš, National Defence Academy of Latvia.
Dr. Lukas Milevski, Leiden University.
Dr. Berzins is a senior researcher at the Center for Security and Strategic Research (CSSR) at the National Defense Academy of Latvia. His research focuses on the strategic aspects of hybrd warfare, Russian Military Thought, and influence operations.
Dr. Lukas Milevski is a (tenured) assistant professor at Leiden University, where he teaches strategic studies in the BA International Studies and MA International Relations programmes, as well as a non-resident fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He has published widely on strategy, including two books with Oxford University Press: The Evolution of Modern Grand Strategic Thought (2016) and The West’s East: Contemporary Baltic Defense in Strategic Perspective(2018). He completed his PhD in 2014 at the University of Reading with Colin Gray.
Past Chairs:
Wolfgang Peischel was the inaugural chair for the Working Group on Strategy when it was formed in 2019.
Thomas Pankratz, 2019-2024
Viktoriya Fedorchak, 2024
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
