On Strategy: A Primer is is a collection of essays that provide historical insight, lessons learned from experience, and illustrations of strategy in practice. Designed as a primer for mid-career military professionals, On Strategy culls the expertise of a diverse group of strategists who represent the brightest minds of the field. They offer a succinct breakdown and instruction on how to think and act strategically at every level. It is a comprehensive and useful book that connects foundational theory to contemporary complexities.
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Praise for On Strategy
“On Strategy reflects an outstanding contribution to strategic studies. Its collection of thoughts reflects a truly global view on this important subject – a practical guide, long overdue in an uncertain world.” - General James L. Jones, USMC (Ret.), former National Security Advisor, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and Commandant of the Marine Corps
“On Strategy is an innovative, practical, and thoughtful primer on strategy - a subject frequently discussed but rarely understood. Especially given the challenges we face today -- from pandemics to great power competition -- this useful book is both very timely and profoundly important!” – Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret.), author of Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character, 12th Dean, The Fletcher School, Tufts University, and 16th NATO Supreme Allied Commander
“This collection of essays makes the connection between the traditional building blocks of strategy and the contemporary challenges we face in preparing for the future operating environment. The lessons discussed in this book provide professional strategists and military officers the tools required to confront the onset of multi-domain warfare in the increasingly-complex international arena.” – Lieutenant General James E. Rainey, Commanding General, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center
“On Strategy is the kind of thought-provoking and instructive text that benefits new and seasoned strategists alike. These essays constitute a wide-ranging survey of strategic thinking in action, which is the kind that matters most – strategy that can be implemented.” – Major General Brad Gericke, Director, U.S. Army Strategy, Plans, & Policy, Headquarters, Department of the Army
"I wish I had had On Strategy when I needed it back in the 1980s. It is a testimony of how far we have moved since the days, while laboring on the 1982 Field Manual 100-5, I came to the conclusion that we needed a School for Advanced Military Studies. On Strategy is evidence of how far we have come…now it just needs to be reflected in the conceptual work of the military establishment.” - Brigadier General Huba Wass de Czege, US Army (Ret.), founder of the US Army’s School for Advanced Military Studies and former special assistant for strategic policy to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe and NATO Secretary General
“On Strategy is an extremely useful collection of essays and a fitting tribute to Colin Gray’s career—one that shaped so many strategists. This brilliant, but accessible, book should be mandatory reading at military and civilian educational institutions. There is much to learn in its pages.” – David Johnson, Ph.D., Colonel, US Army (Ret.), principal researcher at the RAND Corporation, adjunct scholar at West Point’s Modern War Institute, and author of Fast Tanks and Heavy Bombers: Innovation in the U.S Army, 1917-1945 and Hard Fighting: Israel in Lebanon and Gaza
"Gathering the insights of some of the brightest minds in the field, On Strategy is a must read for strategists and students of strategy." – P.W. Singer, Bestselling author of Ghost Fleet, Wired for War, LikeWar, and Burn-In
"More than a primer, On Strategy offers a variety of seasoned perspectives into the nature of strategy, perspectives any mid-career professional would do well to consider." - Professor Antulio J. Echevarria II, Ph.D., Colonel, US Army (Ret.), Editor in Chief, US Army War College Press
“This volume, with chapters by a first-rate group of contributors from across the globe, illuminates the path toward strategic thinking and action. It is a welcome addition to the strategic studies literature and will be useful to scholar and practitioner alike.” – Thomas G. Mahnken, PhD, Senior Research Professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS and President and CEO for the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments
“This collection of sharp, erudite essays shows that the future of strategic thinking is in very good hands. The book is an invaluable resource for anyone first entering the complex and important world of strategy, and for those looking to expand their understanding of it into mastery.” – Steven Metz, PhD, U.S. Army War College
“Many people like to talk strategy, On Strategy is a book for those who need to do strategy. A direct, logical and clear introduction to what strategy is and how to understand and apply it in practice.” – Professor Andrew Carr, PhD, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University
“Comprehensive, insightful, and above all useful. On Strategy belongs in the rucksack of every strategist and in the professional library of anyone interested in the use of force in national security affairs.” Michael R. Matheny, Ph.D., Colonel, US Army (Ret.), Professor Emeritus, U.S. Army War College, author of Carrying the War to the Enemy
“On Strategy: A Primer, edited by Nathan K Finney, an Army strategist and Goodpaster Scholar is a superb addition to the literature on this wide ranging subject. It is vitally important for the American officer corps. The United States Armed Forces has made itself expert in logistics, tactics, and the application of advanced military technology. We are competent practitioners of operational art, but we are barely journeymen strategists. As military officers, we come to the study of strategy too late and find it hard to get a handle on something so vast and connected with everything else. Contrary to some who look down on the intellectual preparation of military officers, we get precious little help from our civilian masters who often lack a strategic mindset. The results are often misguided decisions, strategies that evolve from policy on the ground, micromanagement of tactics and force levels, and domestic politics confounding policy and strategy. Education tous azimuts is a solution to this quintessentially American problem, and this large edited volume should be a text in staff and war colleges, and a handy desk reference for officers on senior staff. It is well written, succinct, and contains the work of dedicated Army strategists, Australian thinkers, Major General Mick Ryan of the Australian Defence Academy, and introductory material from the late Colin Gray and Sir Lawrence Freedman, the deans of the western strategic community. This book belongs in every strategists library.” – Joseph J. Collins, Ph.D., Colonel, US Army (Ret.), Professor Emeritus of National Security Strategy, National War College
“On Strategy is a superb collection of thoughts on strategy, and best of all, pragmatic counsel on what it takes to be a strategist in the 21st Century. I would read this primer BEFORE I read Sun Tzu and Clausewitz.” – Kevin C.M. Benson, Ph.D., Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret.), Former Director, School of Advanced Military Studies
“I feel like I've enrolled in some master's class and now I owe someone $650 for a textbook.” – Paul Guelle, Strategy and Future Plans Officer for U.S. Army Installation Management Command, Europe
“On Strategy should be required reading for all field grade officers. It’s easy to read and it is the perfect introduction to strategy for those headed to their Intermediate Leader Education or those getting ready to serve in a joint-level staff positions.” – Joe Byerly, Founder and Editor, From the Green Notebook