In War, The Chief Incalculable Is The

As Has Happened So Often In History, Victory Had Bred A Complacency And Fostered An Orthodoxy Which Led To Defeat In The Next War.

In War The Chief Incalculable Is The Human Will, Which Manifests Itself In Resistance, Which In Turn Lies In The Province Of Tactics. Strategy Has Not To Overcome Resistance, Except From Nature. Its Purpose Is To Diminish The Possibility Of Resistance, And It Seeks To Fulfil This Purpose By Exploiting The Elements Of Movement And Surprise.

A Modern State Is Such A Complex And Interdependent Fabric That It Offers A Target Highly Sensitive To A Sudden And Overwhelming Blow From The Air.

The Higher Level Of Grand Strategy [is] That Of Conducting War With A Far-sighted Regard To The State Of The Peace That Will Follow.

In Strategy The Longest Way Round Is Often The Shortest Way There- A Direct Approach To The Object Exhausts The Attacker And Hardens The Resistance By Compression, Whereas An Indirect Approach Loosens The Defender's Hold By Upsetting His Balance.