Putin Repeats Napoleon's Mistake: Strategy Wins, Not Power
Having more tanks and planes is important, yes, but the key is good leaders willing to adapt plans to meet changing conditions on the ground.
He came up short.
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There’s no substitute for strategy. Strategy is what allows nations to act with purpose in a chaotic world; it is vital to out-thinking and out-playing their foes. Without strategy, action is random and devoid of direction; power and advantage are squandered rather than deployed to good effect. The greatest empires may survive for a while if they lack good strategy, but none can thrive for long without it.
Strategy is very complex, and it is also very simple. The concept of strategy — what it is, how it works — is subject to unending debate. Even the savviest leaders have struggled to conquer strategy’s dilemmas. Yet the essence of strategy is straightforward: It is the craft of using power to achieve one’s central purposes, amid the friction of global events and the resistance of enemies. Strategy is the indispensable art of getting what we want, with what we have, in a world that seems set on denying us.