Grand Strategy and Military Alliances

A broad-ranging study of the relationship between alliances and the conduct of grand strategy, examined through historical case studies.

Peter R. Mansoor (Edited by), Williamson Murray (Edited by)

9781316501726, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 1 November 2018

411 pages, 12 maps
23 x 15.3 x 2.4 cm, 0.65 kg

'The temptation to devalue alliances is always present, and perhaps it has renewed vigor in the US these days. This book is a timely and well-written reminder that alliances require patience and skills, and, above all, are indispensable to maritime powers like the United States.' Jakub Grygiel, The Johns Hopkins University

Alliances have shaped grand strategy and warfare since the dawn of civilization. Indeed, it is doubtful that the United States of America would have gained its independence without its Revolutionary War alliance with France. Such alliances may prove even more important to international security in the twenty-first century. Economic and financial difficulties alone will ensure that policy makers attempt to spread the burden of securing vital interests onto other nations through alliances, both formal organizations such as NATO and informal alliances of convenience as developed to wage the Gulf War in 1991. A team of leading historians examine the problems inherent in alliance politics and relationships in the framework of grand strategy through the lens of history. Aimed at not just the military aspects of alliances, the book uncovers the myriad factors that have made such coalitions succeed or fail in the past.

1. Introduction: grand strategy and alliances Peter R. Mansoor and Williamson Murray
Part I. Maritime Powers and the Continental Commitment: 2. Grand strategy, alliances, and the Anglo-American way of war Williamson Murray
3. The Anglo-Prussian alliance and the Seven Years War Dennis Showalter
4. Preserved by friend and foe alike: the sixth coalition against revolutionary France Richard Hart Sinnreich
5. The Franco-British military alliance during World War I Paul Harris
6. The grand alliance in World War II Mark A. Stoler
7. Adapt and survive: NATO in the Cold War Ingo Trauschweizer
Part II. The Political and Military Challenges of Coalition Warfare: 8. The Peloponnesian War and Sparta's strategic alliances Victor Davis Hanson and David L. Berkey
9. The Anglo-Burgundian alliance and grand strategy in the Hundred Years War Clifford J. Rogers
10. The Franco-American alliance during the War for Independence Mark Grimsley
11. The alliance that wasn't: Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I Marcus Jones
12. The Axis Williamson Murray
13. The Gulf War, 1990–91: a coalition of convenience in a changing world Richard Swain
14. Conclusion: alliances and coalitions in the twenty-first century Peter R. Mansoor
Index.

Subject Areas: Diplomacy [JPSD], Military history [HBW]