Law 12: Grand Strategy Flashcards
(35 cards)
What is the core tenet of grand strategy?
It’s ok to lose battles, but you win the war.
What are the mistakes you can make in victory during a war?
- You get drunk on power, you don’t stop, overreach and lose everything
- Victory increases the danger you’re exposed to and you get caught in an overwhelming death spiral of attack and counter attack
What are the 5 things you should consider before making a single move?
- The enemy
- Reactions of allies
- Reactions of neighbouring states
- Imagine the peace after the war
- The capabilities of your army over time
What are the 4 core aspects of grand strategy?
- Focus on your greater goal, your destiny
- Widen your perspective
- Sever the roots
- Take the indirect route to your goal
What is the difference between a wish and a goal?
A wish is a hazy desire, large and abstract.
A goal is specific, detailed and focused.
In what ways can you find focus on your greater goal?
- How will it feel to reach your goal?
- What will reaching your goal look like?
- Visualise your end point in intense detail
- Visualise the aftermath of the campaign
How do you visualise the aftermath of the campaign?
- The signing of the treaty
- The look of defeat on the opponent’s face
- Exactly how this victory would position me for my next campaign
What are the objectives of grand strategy?
- Build a strong foundation for future expansion
- Make you more secure
- Increase your power
What is the key goal of widening your perspective?
To be able to see further in time and space than the enemy
What restricts your perspective?
- We live in the present, reacting constantly to immediate circumstances
- Our subjective experiences and desires
- How we wish things to be
How can you force yourself to widen your perspective?
- For every event, dig deep into the causal chain of relationships that made it happen
- Try to look at the world through other people’s eyes (esp your enemy)
- Think about anyone - “how are they NOT like me?”
What is politics?
The art of promoting and protecting your own interests
How does politics play a role in your perspective in a situation?
If you have a narrow perspective, you’re acting in self-interest without thinking about the needs of others around you.
If you broaden your perspective, you can see how any situation can affect the interests of others around you.
Define “political consequences”
Your behaviour and actions in the world always have political consequences. People analyse it in terms of whether it helps or harms them.
When considering the politics of any move you’re about to make, what should lead to you AVOIDING that move?
If it leads to alienating potential allies, or creating intractable enemies, you should avoid it.
When considering the politics of a move you’re about to make, what should lead to you going ahead with the move?
If you gain support from people and are able to create and strengthen your base, you should go ahead with the move.
Before beginning a campaign, what is an absolute deal-breaker?
If you can see that by the end of the campaign you have fewer allies and more enemies, that’s an absolute deal-breaker.
What is the ideal end to a campaign?
The end should see you with a larger support base.
How can you ensure that you end a campaign with a larger support base?
You serve people’s self-interests during your campaign.
What does the author mean by “sever the roots”?
An enemy is like an onion. You have to peel the layers to understand the real source of their power and motivation. If you can find and eliminate that source, you can win.
What questions can you ask to understand the roots that give an enemy strength?
- What motivates them?
- What is the source of their power?
What is the goal of “severing the roots?”
To find and eliminate the source of the enemy’s power
What is a very powerful way to sever enemies’ roots?
You see dangers as they start to sprout, and cut them down before they become too big to handle
What is the greatest danger in strategy?
Losing the initiative. You find yourself constantly reacting to what the other side does.
