Strategy Strikes Back

Max Brooks is a writer, public speaker, nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point, and senior resident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Art of Future Warfare project. He is the author of World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War and the coauthor (with John Amble, ML Cavanaugh, and Jaym Gates) of Winning Westeros: How Game of Thrones Explains Modern Military Conflict (Potomac, 2019). John Amble is the editorial director of the Modern War Institute. A former U.S. Army military intelligence officer, he is a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. ML Cavanaugh is a nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute and a U.S. Army strategist with global experience. Jaym Gates is a science fiction editor and author, with more than a dozen anthologies to her credit. Stanley McChrystal is a U.S. Army general (ret.) who led the Joint Special Operations Command in Iraq during the Persian Gulf wars and was top commander of American forces in Afghanistan.

"Illuminating."-Lawrence D. Freedman, Foreign Affairs “Over the course of history, our single greatest vulnerability has been a failure of imagination. Strategy Strikes Back confronts that vulnerability. The future may not evolve precisely as these authors suggest, but evolve it will. As it does, we will discover that some of tomorrow’s challenges will prove to be timeless, and others surprisingly new. Learning to imagine now will be time well spent.”-Gen. Martin Dempsey, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff "This assortment of imaginative and fun analyses is an absolute essential for any military theorist, strategist, critic, and lover of the Star Wars saga that to this day, continues to inspire, expand, and hold a profound sway in our imaginations."-Christopher S. Poppleton, Aviation Digest “Star Wars is just as much a foundational mythology of our time as The Iliad was a long time ago. Strategy Strikes Back ingeniously uses that world far, far away to help readers take a look at our wars here today.”-P. W. Singer, best-selling author of Wired for War and coauthor of Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War "You might be forgiven for thinking the never-ending Star Wars franchise was simply a cash cow built of sequels, spin-offs and toys. But the space saga is actually helping further the discussion about military strategy right here on Earth."-Chad Jones, San Francisco Chronicle "Anyone with a basic knowledge of the Star Wars universe is sure to enjoy the creative parallels used by these esteemed authors to simplify complex topics. Avid fans with deep knowledge of this universe cannot help but embrace these parallels, think through them more deeply, and dig even deeper into them as they try to support or argue against the authors while also showing off their superior knowledge of their favorite series of movies."-Steve Luczynski, Strategy Bridge "Strategy Strikes Back succeeds . . . in illuminating the parallels between war-fighting in speculative fiction and the real world. It opens strategic thinking to non-expert audiences, and prompts experts to reason creatively about the role of force-and indeed the Force-in establishing and maintaining political order."-Stephen Dyson, H-Diplo "Strategy Strikes Back highlights what good science fiction and serious reflection on pop culture can do: bring the (strategic) dilemmas of the current age into stark relief."-Erin Simpson, War on the Rocks "This may be the most innovative and interesting book on military strategy ever published. . . . This volume takes a completely different approach to explaining both the eternal nature and modern intricacies of strategy, politics, and conflict by using the popular Star Wars movies as a common frame of reference for discussing the many issues and challenges modern practitioners of the strategic arts face."-Jerry Lenaburg, New York Journal of Books

• ForewordStanley McChrystalPrefaceML CavanaughIntroductionMax BrooksPart 1. Society and War1. The Case for Planet Building on EndorMax Brooks2. The Jedi and the SenateJim Golby3. Distant Warriors: Are Clones and Troops Too Separate from the Societies They Serve?Crispin J. Burke4. On Destroying AlderaanMick Cook5. Civil-Military Relationships in Star WarsDaniel D. Maurer6. How General Grievous and Vulture Droids Foreshadow Conflict’s Fast FutureRaq Winchester and Fran Wilde7. From Princess to General: The On- and Offscreen Rise of the Woman WarriorErica IversonPart 2. Preparation for War8. Tarkin Doctrine: The Empire’s Theory of VictoryKelsey D. Atherton9. How Not to Build an Army: The Empire’s Flawed Military ForceMick Ryan10. The Jedi and the Profession of ArmsSteve Leonard11. The Right Fleet: Starships for Strategic PurposeBJ Armstrong12. Why We Need Space MarinesB. A. Friedman13. Jedi Mind Tricks: From the Reel to the RealJean Marie Ward14. Lightsabers and Death Stars: Military-Technology Lessons from Star WarsDan WardPart 3. Waging a War15. Hybrid Star Wars: The Battle of EndorJames Stavridis and Colin Steele16. Han, Greedo, and a Strategy of PreventionChuck Bies17. The Logic of Strategy in SpaceSteve Metz18. Darth Vader and Mission CommandJonathan Bratten19. The Battle of Hoth: A Critical AnalysisAndrew Liptak20. Why Military Forces Adapt, Even in a Galaxy Far, Far AwayChuck Bies21. Dispatch from Hoth: When the Blood Runs ColdAugust ColePart 4. Assessment of War22. Darth Vader’s Failed Counterinsurgency StrategyLiam Collins23. Why the Jedi Won Fights, Not WarsJohn Spencer24. Why the Galactic Republic Fell: An Imperial-Network PerspectiveVan Jackson25. Why the Empire FailedTheresa Hitchens26. Star Wars, Cyclical History, and Implications for StrategyKathleen J. McInnis27. Suffer, the Weak Must: A History of the Galactic Civil WarCraig Whiteside28. A Strategist, Yoda Was NotML CavanaughEpilogue: The Lessons of Star WarsML CavanaughContributors