Technogeopologistics: Supply Networks and Military Power in the Industrial Age
Abstract
This thesis examines the impact of technology on logistics and geopolitics during the two major industrial wars of the twentieth century. Through the theoretical lenses of Mahan, Mackinder, Douhet, and Mitchell, the author assess the validity of sea, land, and air lines of communication in relation to each other and to combat power. While air lines of communication can quickly deliver troops and supplies to the battlefield, they lack the robust capability of sea and land communications. However, airpower provides the range and flexibility to attack sea and ground lines of communication, making it the great arbiter between the two mediums. Ultimately, lines of communication are very sensitive to technological change. By the end of World War II, technology gave the belligerents the ability to attack anywhere on the globe. This in turn reshaped geopolitical concerns into a contest between logistics, combat power, and industrial supply chains. While each of the single-medium theories has explanatory power for industrial warfare, they each lack sufficiency on their own to guarantee victory. Those nations, personified in the United States and the Soviet Union, which best conveyed their industrial resources, logistics, and combat power in a vertical supply chain, while also harnessing their alliances through a strategic horizontal logistics network, won the wars.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- AD1019686
Entities
People
- Jobie S. Turner
Organizations
- Air University