Enduring Concepts For An Enduring Contest The Principles Of War And The Timeless Nature Of War Itself

Enduring Concepts for an Enduring Contest, The Principles of War and the Timeless Nature of War Itself

Vibrant professional communities not only reflect on how they interact with the society they serve, but also seek to improve their ability to render the unique services that grant them their raison d' etre. Military journals capture emerging trends in technology, doctrine, and organization with the intent of informing, educating and improving the professional attributes of their readership. Journals also provide the forum for constantly testing and revalidating or modifying bedrock assumptions. Recently, a number of articles in the Naval Institute's Proceedings have questioned the continued validity of the nine recognized principles of war without modification or wholesale change. Providing more fuel for the debate, the Joint Staff has prepared a white paper, An Evolving Joint Perspective: US Joint Warfighting and Crisis Resolution in the 21st Century, that among other things seeks to synthesize the existing principles of war, the principles of war for Military Operations Other Than War (MOOTW), and the fundamentals of joint operations into an inclusive framework of fundamentals suited for crisis resolution in the 21st century. The principles of war are actually quite modern, only existing in their current form since 1949, and have historically generated debates in regard to what terms should be used and in what manner each term should be defined. Just as the terms and definitions have changed in the past, the principles may change in the future, assuming there is a well founded reason and that the new term and/or definition is better than the one it replaces.

New Principles of War

Marvin Pokrant argues that the currently recognized principles of war are flawed and proposes a set of nine new principles to guide military leaders.

Professional Journal of the United States Army