The Dialectics of Military Planning

Red Sunset ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 177-209
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Jason Phillips

This introduction explains that looming, a nineteenth-century term for a superior mirage, shows us how visions of the future war affected antebellum America. First, some spark, an event or object, captured people’s attention. Second, a unique atmosphere elevated and enlarged that spark, making it loom greater than reality. Before the Civil War was fought or remembered, it was imagined by thousands of Americans who peered at the horizon through an apocalyptic atmosphere. Third, observers focused on it and reported what appeared to be beyond the horizon. Popular forecasts rose from leaders but also women, slaves, immigrants, and common soldiers. These imaginings shaped politics, military planning, and the economy. The prologue identifies the two prevailing temporalities of antebellum America, anticipations and expectations, and calls for more historical attention to the diverse temporalities of past people.


2021 ◽  
Vol IV(1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adewunmi Falode ◽  

Intelligence has come to play a pivotal role in the affairs of states and non-state actors in the 21st century. It not only determines the outcome of conflict when it breaks out but also provides critical edge and foresight in military planning and engagements. However, the effective utilization and deployment of intelligence in any strategic environment may be hampered by the lack of a holistic and generally accepted definition of it. The search for a robust definition has not also been helped by the differing views on what should constitute the basic elements of it. To overcome these challenges, this work argues for and provides a holistic definition of intelligence. It uses both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to provide a more robust and holistic definition of intelligence. The work concludes that any acceptable definition of intelligence must contain five key elements: process, data, actionable information, political group and security.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 470-494
Author(s):  
Lukas Grawe

Although historiography often attributes the German military leadership a high responsibility for the outbreak of the First World War, the action of the German military attaché in Paris, Detlof von Winterfeldt, has so far been ignored. This article shows how Winterfeldt assessed the strengths and weaknesses of the French army and describes how his reporting influenced the General Staff’s evaluations in Berlin. It examines the concrete effects of his reporting on German military policies and military planning before 1914 to ascertain whether the General Staff relied on Winterfeldt’s reports and if so, what difference they made.


Author(s):  
Mehmet Gokhan Metin ◽  
Serol Bulkan

In recent years, advancing technology has introduced a wide range of resources for military forces. This rapid improvement in the number and types of military resources also led to difficulties in the management of resource allocation issues in combat missions. The general resource allocation problem can be defined as determining the optimal sequence of resource usage allocations while maximizing the kills on the enemy's forces or minimizing casualties. In this chapter, the authors investigate the resource allocation problems and solution approaches observed in planning military missions. Theoretical background information and some examples based on real-time data are provided to illustrate the chosen problem types.


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