Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Strategy
- The Cambridge History of Strategy
- The Cambridge History of Strategy
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume II
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Introduction to Volume II
- 1 The Strategies of the Napoleonic Wars
- 2 Guerrilla and Nineteenth-Century Strategies of Insurgency
- 3 Russia, 1877–1917
- 4 The American Civil War
- 5 The Use of Naval Power
- 6 The Russo-Japanese War
- 7 Chinese Strategy, 1926–1949
- 8 First World War
- 9 Soviet Strategy, 1917–1945
- 10 Air Power
- 11 The Second World War in Europe
- 12 The Second World War in the Asia–Pacific
- 13 Soviet Strategy, 1945–1989
- 14 People’s War and Wars of Decolonisation
- 15 Nuclear Strategies
- 16 America’s Way of War
- 17 The Korean War
- 18 Israel’s Wars
- 19 The India–Pakistan Confrontations
- 20 The Yugoslav War, 1991–1999
- 21 Terrorism and Insurgency
- 22 The Forty-Year War in Afghanistan
- 23 The Three Gulf Wars and Iraq
- 24 China’s Wars, 1950–2021
- Conclusion
- Further Reading
- Index
16 - America’s Way of War
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 January 2025
- The Cambridge History of Strategy
- The Cambridge History of Strategy
- The Cambridge History of Strategy
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume II
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Introduction to Volume II
- 1 The Strategies of the Napoleonic Wars
- 2 Guerrilla and Nineteenth-Century Strategies of Insurgency
- 3 Russia, 1877–1917
- 4 The American Civil War
- 5 The Use of Naval Power
- 6 The Russo-Japanese War
- 7 Chinese Strategy, 1926–1949
- 8 First World War
- 9 Soviet Strategy, 1917–1945
- 10 Air Power
- 11 The Second World War in Europe
- 12 The Second World War in the Asia–Pacific
- 13 Soviet Strategy, 1945–1989
- 14 People’s War and Wars of Decolonisation
- 15 Nuclear Strategies
- 16 America’s Way of War
- 17 The Korean War
- 18 Israel’s Wars
- 19 The India–Pakistan Confrontations
- 20 The Yugoslav War, 1991–1999
- 21 Terrorism and Insurgency
- 22 The Forty-Year War in Afghanistan
- 23 The Three Gulf Wars and Iraq
- 24 China’s Wars, 1950–2021
- Conclusion
- Further Reading
- Index
Summary
This chapter describes the origin of the idea of an American way of war. That idea began with the publication of historian Russell Weigley’s classic, The American Way of War: A History of United States Military Strategy and Policy, in 1973. For Weigley, a way of war essentially came down to habits of thought. America’s way of war, thus, had to do with the habits of thought of Americans with respect to armed conflict. This chapter also provides a brief survey of America’s armed conflicts, from its War of Independence to its interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. This survey describes the major war aims in each of these conflicts as well as the type of military strategy employed.
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- The Cambridge History of Strategy , pp. 329 - 346Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025