Strategic Theory for the 21st Century: The Little Book on Big Strategy

by Harry R. Yarger

The word "strategy" pervades American conversation and is most often used as a general term for a plan, a concept, a course of action, or a "vision" of the direction in which to proceed. Such casual use of the term to describe nothing more than "what we would like to do next" is inappropriate and belies the complexity of true strategy and strategic thinking. This "little book" talks about big strategy, strategy at the highest levels of the nation-state. It is applicable to grand strategy, national security strategy, national military strategy, and regional or theater strategy. The monograph does not propose a strategy for the United States; rather, it provides a framework for considering strategy at any of the levels mentioned above. It is an examination of theory, exploring those aspects of strategy that appear to have universal application. The theory also may have application to the strategy of nonstate actors, institutions, and businesses, but the perspective offered here focuses on the nation-state.

94 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

HARRY R. (Rich) YARGER is the Professor of National Security Policy in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College. Currently he teaches courses in Fundamentals of Strategic Thinking, Theory of War and Strategy, National Security Policy and Strategy, and Grand Strategy. His research focuses on national security policy, strategic theory, and the education and development of strategic level leaders. In addition to teaching positions, Dr. Yarger served 5 years as the Chairman of the War College’s Department of Distance Education and is considered one of the Army’s leading experts in on-line education. Dr. Yarger has also taught at the undergraduate level at several local colleges. A retired Army colonel, he is a Vietnam veteran and served in both Germany and Korea. Dr. Yarger is a graduate of the Army War College and obtained his doctorate in history from Temple University

Reviews

[Ahmed Abdelhamid · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recognized by VUCA (Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) the author describes the: Strategic environment.
Then after a speedy explanation of chaos theory and complexity theory, he notes down:15 assumptions and premises of a strategy/strategic thinking.

I would say, skip the whole book, directly read page 66 onwards! Where he lists shortly the premises, ends/ways/means, validity and risk of a strategic plan. If you are aware of "systems" theory in general, then you already know how to project the same ideas on "political" or "socio-economical" systems and their response.

In early chapters he keeps repeating similar ideas... (Linear systems, complexity of the system where outputs might be larger than the total sum on inputs, chaotic response where a minor event can get massive results at the output)... etc

I loved only the way he perceives the strategic options as "comulative" within a super dynamic-complex-chaotic system, and the result is not a "zero" sum, or a total control of the system... rather "directing" the total sum... being flexible, and allowing the system to reach equilibrium dynamically... tendency of players/political systems to resist change, and opportunities at historical moments/selection of those moments...

I don't see it as the best book on the topic, but as far as am concerned, it gives a speedy insight.

[William Bahr · Rating 5 out of 5]

BIG Strategy

If you're looking for a book on BIG strategy, this is the little book for you. Harry R. Yarger, Professor of National Security Policy in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College, waxes eloquent on what issues arise on the national strategic level, especially as regards the armed forces. Included are lots of useful references and concepts developed elsewhere and distilled here for further investigation. If you've got the basics of strategy under your belt and are wanting to think about its highest level as expressed in national policy, you'll find lots to learn about here. Beware, however, and this is a compliment, this book is dense with concepts. 4WIW, I purchased it to update my own book on strategy.

[Crimson 786 · Rating 5 out of 5]

It begins with a simple statement, “Strategy is the art of possible... but very few understand what is possible”.
It explains what is strategy, why do we need strategy? How is strategy different from planning.
Environment is best explained in this book, my favourite part of the book is explanation of environment.
Yarger presents 15 premises of strategy..

All along, its a loaded book with lots of repetitions, but i have never come across another book on strategy that is not...

This little book is indeed worth reading. 5 stars.

[Nina Luo · Rating 5 out of 5]

strategic monism re: strategic concepts, and why that happens accidentally sometimes as a function of resources, why flexibility matters
chaos theory and complexity theory
failing to consider second and third order effects can mean a momentarily successful tactic defeats the strategic objective in long-run
"edge of chaos" is when small actions can have biggest effect

[Rich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meant as a brief review Yarger does some good things here. As others have said, for such a small book he spends a lot of effort repeating himself. Also, while he provides good examples for his points in other sections, his discussion of the Strategic Environment is thin on examples. Yes, its good to emphasize to the reader both chaos and complexity theory (here a picture would be helpful too) - but providing any example, much less the derivative example provided in his sources would have been helpful.

All in all, probably best suited as a quick memory-jogging review, but still worthwhile for all strategic thinkers for its brevity.