Should Deterrence Fail: War Termination and Campaign Planning
Abstract
Our current operational doctrines display a serious blind spot with regard to the issue of conflict termination. How should the operational commander translate the political or military objectives of a conflict into war termination conditions to be achieved as the product of a campaign? This essay argues that war termination deserves equal billing with other aspects of the campaign planning process and should be guided by a set of principles or guidelines which, like; other dimensions of that process, are best considered earlier rather than later. Based on a review of existing theory and recent historical illustrations, it suggests three requirement which war termination doctrine must address: operational doctrine should tell us something about how to define military conditions in a manner that relates those conditions to strategic aims ; it should facilitate a military contribution to the bargaining process inherent in the terminal phases of a war; and it should help to guide the transition from hostilities back toward a state of peace.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 18, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA253154
Entities
People
- James W. Reed
Organizations
- Naval War College