The Blind Strategist: John Boyd and the American Art of War

Description

From the acclaimed author of Panzer Commander Hermann Balck and False Flags comes an in-depth, critical evaluation of the maneuver warfare revolution that has transformed the American military. Colonel John Boyd, a maverick fighter pilot, revolutionized the American art of war through his ideas on conflict and the human mind. Boyd claimed that victory is won by the side which transitions through 'decision cycles' faster than the enemy, mentally checkmating them with minimal violence. Maneuver warfare concepts became military doctrine during the 1980s but this revolution accidently undermined American security. When formulating his theories on conflict, Boyd relied upon fraudulent accounts of WWII written by Wehrmacht veterans who fabricated historical evidence to disassociate their reputations from Germany's defeat and cover up their willing participation in Nazi war crimes. Boyd fell for this deception and unknowingly injected dangerous misinformation into the American military mind. Maneuver warfare has accordingly corrupted the art of war and resulted in catastrophic decisions made in Iraq and Afghanistan during 21st century conflict. The Blind Strategist separates fact from fantasy and exposes the myths of maneuver warfare through a detailed evidence-based investigation. A must-read for anybody interested in American military history.

Stephen Robinson has a First Class degree in Asian history and politics and has graduated from Australian Command and Staff College. He has worked at the Department of Veterans' Affairs, as a policy officer in the Department of Defence, and has now written three books about the art of war.

"Robinson reveals, the more that scholars learn about German operations and about Hart's determination to fit all military history into his own simplistic framework, the flimsier Boyd's thesis appears. Robinson carries out a meticulous demolition job that will be of interest to students of the Wehrmacht and to the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, demonstrating how grand theories with an emotional appeal can go a long way on the back of dubious history." -- Lawrence D. Freedman * Foreign Affairs * "Stephen Robinson makes a bold, but utterly convincing, assault on the foundations of nearly fifty years of military thinking. As the United States military and its allies across the globe reorient themselves for the challenges of great state competition, Robinson's fascinating book is certain to be at the center of the debate." -- Dr. James Lacey, Horner Chair of Military Theory, Marine Corps University "If you are going to go the trouble to write a book you may as well make it controversial." -- Army News "Robinson's well researched book questions the tenets of Boyd's OODA loop, maneuver warfare, infiltration tactics, blitzkrieg, World War II historiography, Desert Storm success, and much more. This will be controversial. Let the debates begin!" -- Mark F. Cancian (Colonel, USMCR, ret.), Center for Strategic and International Studies "An important book, one Boyd's advocates will not want to read, but should." -- Antulio J. Echevarria II "In this important, engaging and meticulously researched study, Stephen Robinson presents a compelling corrective to the maneuverist myth and Boyd worship affecting large parts of the US defense establishment and other Western militaries. For all the undoubted influence of Boyd's purportedly revolutionary ideas, their uncritical embrace has fostered forms of doctrinal dogmatism, and the resulting operational tunnel vision helps explain recent failures in American strategy. In exposing the flawed foundations of maneuver warfare, this book will hopefully go some way to releasing Boyd's followers from their blind devotion to the blind strategist." -- Thomas Waldman, Senior Lecturer in International Security Studies, Macquarie University "An eye-opening book." -- The Daily Telegraph "This book is well constructed, and easy to read, especially for those who have background in Command or Staff positions in any Armed Service. Much was learned from reading it." -- RUSI (Royal United Services Institute) "With the Pentagon contemplating multi-domain operations as the next big thing in military transformation, Stephen Robinson's meticulously researched, razor-sharp critique of John Boyd, which smartly encapsulates current debates about the relative merits of the maneuver warfare central to such operations, is a crucial resource." -- Jonathan Stevenson, Senior Fellow for US Defence, International Institute for Strategic Studies, and Managing Editor of Survival "a bold assault on nearly fifty years of military thinking" -- Australian Defence Magazine "I'm in awe of Stephen Robinson, single handedly he has made himself the most influential military theorist of the 21st Century, Not a bad outcome for an Aussie public servant and Australian Army Reservist. A totally outstanding effort." -- Australian New Zealander Defender "Robinson carries out a meticulous demolition job that will be of interest to students of the Wehrmacht and to the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, demonstrating how grand theories with an emotional appeal can go a long way on the back of dubious history." -- John Boyd * Foreign Affairs * "While Robinson does not fully discredit Boyd's thinking, he forces even the most ardent Boyd acolytes to reexamine the substance and utility of Boyd's works." * thestrategybridge.org * In "The Blind Strategist" Australian Army Reservist and historian, Stephen Robertson puts forward a very clear and well argued case that the whole theory of manoeuvre warfare as developed by Boyd was based on lies. * rsa.org.nz * "Stephen Robinson does a superb job of analyzing the momentous debate about the virtues of "maneuver warfare" that took place in the United States during the latter years of the Cold War. He shows in great detail that the proponents of maneuver - including their guiding light, John Boyd - based their claims on a deeply flawed understanding of history. The Blind Strategist is a must read for all serious students of modern warfare." -- John J. Mearsheimer, the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago "The Blind Strategist is a timely, controversial and iconoclastic book. Stephen Robinson takes aim at a shibboleth of American military doctrine: maneuver. Re-interpreting the story of John Boyd, it debunks the orthodoxy that maneuver is the self-evidently superior form of warfare in all circumstances. Instead, it seeks to re-habilitate the concepts of mass, firepower and attrition articulated in the apparently superseded concept of Active Defence proposed by General William DePuy in the 1970s. This book is essential and challenging reading for US military officers returning to the problem of high-interest inter-state against near peer competitors, after two decades of counter-insurgency." -- Professor Anthony King, War Studies, The University of Warwick "The book is bound to spark controversy and debate within the US defence establishment, and that is a good thing." * Survival (UK print magazine) * "This remarkable volume is absolutely essential reading for any military professional and highly recommended for their political masters as well." * Military History Matters (UK magazine) * "When formulating his theories on conflict, Boyd relied upon fraudulent accounts of WWII written by Wehrmacht veterans, who fabricated historical evidence to disassociate their reputations from Germany's defeat and cover up their willing participation in Nazi war crimes. Manoeuvre warfare has accordingly corrupted the art of war and resulted in catastrophic decisions made in Iraq and Afghanistan during 21st century conflict." * QRSL * "An Aussie Army Reservist officer may have just undermined the strategic theories underpinning much of the Anglo American tactical warfighting doctrine. Very important book." * Australian New Zealander Defender * "The book is bound to spark controversy and debate within the US defence establishment, and that is a good thing. To those who would challenge followers of Boyd in deliberating on future US force structure and doctrine, the book provides rich food for thought. Ideally, Robinson will advance the same goal that Boyd himself ultimately sought to achieve: an understanding of warfare more in line with reality." * Survival: Global Politics and Strategy *