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Military operations conducted on land, at sea, and in the air have qualities unique to these different settings. These differences can ultimately be traced to the demands created by the need to operate in different environments. For instance, terrain tends to shape land operations, while the need to stay afloat or aloft are requirements that cannot be ignored during combat at sea or in the air. These different settings for military operations have produced different organizational cultures among land, sea, and air forces, and different approaches to tactics, doctrines, and even thinking about how to achieve victory in war. Indeed, national strategic outlooks are themselves shaped by which ‘geography’ is dominant when it comes to national defence and foreign policy. Land powers and maritime powers tend to adopt different outlooks when it comes to strategy.
These chapters, originally published in the 1st edition of Strategy in the Contemporary World in 2002, each trace how geography has shaped both the thinking about and the conduct of war on land, in the air, and at sea. They trace the evolution of technological, doctrinal, and strategic trends that unfolded during the twentieth century. These trends seemed to have reached an inflection point with the end of the cold war and the rapid ejection of Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991. Although scholars today sometimes mistakenly focus on new technologies and weapons outside any geographic context, conflict on land, at sea, and in the air continues to exhibit unique qualities and reflect different ways of thinking about strategy. When juxtaposed, these chapters highlight these differences succinctly.
Download ‘Land Warfare: Theory and Practice’ by Stephen Biddle (PDF)
Download ‘Sea Power: Theory and Practice’ by Sam J. Tangredi (PDF)
Download ‘Air Power: Theory and Practice’ by Timothy Garden (PDF)