Strategic Concepts—Old and New

Although security is basically a national problem, the strategic factors that are applied to the process of finding a military solution to it cannot be considered in an isolated, purely national context. National security must, to a great extent, be assessed within a regional or even global strategic environment because neglect of contemporary strategic concepts can lead to imbalances in defence policies and force structures, infructuous expenditure and—occasionally—even to disaster. For example, the initial reverses faced by Britain and her allies in two world wars can be attributed primarily to a lack of adjustment by the British to the prevalent ‘continental’ type of strategy that the Nepoleonic era had ushered in. The British, used to the ‘maritime’ type of strategy of the colonical era, began both world wars with the premise that their national security could best be served by the old maritime concept. It was only the eventual adjustment to the continental type of strategy (induced by the French in the First World War and by the Americans in 1943) that created the conditions for ultimate victory.