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Overview
Mark Mandeles argues that the key to future combat effectiveness is not in acquiring new technologies but rather in the Defense Department's institutional and organizational structure and its effect upon incentives to invent, to innovate, and to conduct operations effectively. Doing so requires that the military establishment resist incentives to substitute short-term technological gains for long-term operational advantages and to maintain incentives for effective long-term innovation.Synopsis
Explains the radical changes in military technology that have reshaped the U.S. military and argues for significant restructuring of the defense bureaucracies to take full advantage of this revolution.
Editorials
From the Publisher
"Pathbreaking and thoroughly researched. The author’s thesis that ‘organization’ is shaped by the institutional setting is well illustrated by his analysis of the Gulf War air campaign, which provides a case-in-point as to why much hard thinking . . . needs to be given to how command and control should be organized in the context of the changing new technology. Hopefully, this study will provide a wake-up call.""The Future of War offers a basis for the U.S. Department of Defense to create an organizational self-correcting capability with long-lasting advantages to America’s strategic position. [It] is a must read for military officers, civilian analysts shaping national security policy, and the academic community."
"This book will explain to scholars and students of modern complex organizations what transformation means to the Department. It will show why organizations are weapons and why the Defense Department is laboring to build organizations that will in fact dominate the future of war."
"The Future of War is a strikingly original and incisive study of the manner in which the critical factors comprising a revolution in military affairs—organization, technology, doctrine, and people—connect and interact. The writing is clear and direct; the research is impressive in depth and breadth. It is highly recommended for military professionals and civilian analysts engaged in shaping national security policy."
"Mandeles's analysis is rooted in history. And he handles it right. . . . An important read for anyone interested in military policy."
"This book is a thoughtful and engaging corrective to the now endless shelves of writing on applied technologies as the recent Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) debate morphed into the era of transformation."
". . . .a valuable contribution to the literature of military innovation and revolutions in military affairs (RMA)."