“As a hypothetical illustration, let us assume a conflict involving us in Afghanistan.” — J.C. Wylie Copy Share Image
“He argues, in effect, that the strategist should unbalance the enemy’s system, should make him expend energy to regain balance.” — J.C. Wylie Enemy Copy Share Image
“it is interesting to note that, in its degree of sophistication, the Liddell Hart theory is much more receptive to the concepts… — J.C. Wylie Copy Share Image
“the problem is how do we oppose a cumulative strategy with a sequential strategy? Or must we, ourselves, develop some sort of… — J.C. Wylie Strategy Copy Share Image
“mass communications in free societies, is an indispensable element of terrorism. Closed societies, with control of mass communications, are not good targets.” — J.C. Wylie Communication Copy Share Image
“The most important part of this article was Wylie’s development of the idea that the purpose of sea power is to project… — J.C. Wylie Copy Share Image
“to any soldier, what he does is tactical and what his next senior does is strategic.” — J.C. Wylie Copy Share Image
“a general theory of strategy must, I believe, be a theory of power in all its forms, not just a theory of… — J.C. Wylie Strategy Copy Share Image
“the definition of strategy that I prefer: A plan of action designed in order to achieve some end; a purpose together with… — J.C. Wylie Copy Share Image
“The strategist should take up specific situations only after the requirement for provision of the spectrum of concepts has been met, and… — J.C. Wylie Copy Share Image
“AT THIS STAGE of the argument we find ourselves with four ideas relating to war and war strategy—that there will be war,… — J.C. Wylie Peace Copy Share Image
“the soldier cannot function alone. His flanks are bare, his rear is vulnerable, and he looks aloft with a cautious eye. He… — J.C. Wylie Copy Share Image
“The direct application to today’s problem might well be in determination of the most efficient method of combining cumulative maritime and air… — J.C. Wylie Strategy Copy Share Image
“The incomplete vocabulary of strategy as an intellectual discipline limits the communication of the central concept of indirectness. This concept, as it… — J.C. Wylie Communication Copy Share Image
“Guerrilla war is the war of the broad masses of an economically backward country standing up against a powerfully equipped and well… — J.C. Wylie Guerrilla Copy Share Image
“An idea is a very powerful thing, and political ideas or religious ideas or economic ideas have always affected and often controlled… — J.C. Wylie Politics Copy Share Image
“The bibles (in English translation) are Mao Tse-Tung on Guerrilla Warfare by Brigadier General Samuel B. Griffith, USMC (Ret), which contains General… — J.C. Wylie American revolution Copy Share Image
“The literature of war and its strategies is poverty-stricken. Of all the men who have written on the subject of war, I… — J.C. Wylie Books Copy Share Image
“If we examine the four major limited theories of strategy—the continental, the maritime, the air and the Mao theories—and add to them… — J.C. Wylie Strategy Copy Share Image
“I do not criticize the amateur strategist. On the contrary, I believe deeply that strategy is everybody’s business. Too many lives are… — J.C. Wylie Strategist Copy Share Image
“As we have noted before, it may well be necessary to defeat the enemy army. It may even be necessary to defeat… — J.C. Wylie War Copy Share Image
“The requirement is for a full bag of strategic concepts that will always provide, before and during war, not only a strategy… — J.C. Wylie Strategy Copy Share Image
“The second reason for which the military mind addresses itself to specific assumed situations is on the occasions when there may in… — J.C. Wylie Assumptions Copy Share Image
“The classical soldier’s beliefs and behavior patterns are all summarized in the central theme of Clausewitz, who tells us that his study… — J.C. Wylie Clausewitz Copy Share Image
“a more thorough recognition and appreciation of the several patterns of thoughts that make up our military minds would probably produce better… — J.C. Wylie Gratitude Copy Share Image
“the soldier, few men realize, is the only one of the military men who cannot do his part of the war alone.” — J.C. Wylie Peace Copy Share Image
“we cannot predict with certainty the pattern of the war for which we prepare ourselves.” — J.C. Wylie Certainty Copy Share Image
“The ultimate determinant in war is the man on the scene with the gun. This man is the final power in war.… — J.C. Wylie Peace Copy Share Image
“There are not many other such places where the maritime element of our national strength cannot be applied, but where this is… — J.C. Wylie Maritime Copy Share Image
“The ultimate objective of all military operations is the destruction of the enemy’s armed forces and his will to fight.”* This sums… — J.C. Wylie Armed forces Copy Share Image
“The important point, and the crux of the Mao heresy, is that the rural peasant is the base of power. This is… — J.C. Wylie Peasant Copy Share Image
“With respect to strategy as a subject of study, its intellectual framework is not clearly outlined, and its vocabulary is almost nonexistent.… — J.C. Wylie Education Copy Share Image
“The “war is a continuation of policy” idea is the basis of a great deal of coordinated planning, with the foreign offices… — J.C. Wylie Strategy Copy Share Image
“we cannot predict with certainty the pattern of the war for which we prepare ourselves. We cannot, with reasonable certainty, forecast the… — J.C. Wylie Certainty Copy Share Image
“The second point is that there is nothing “secret” about strategy per se. The unwarranted but persistent notion that it is secret… — J.C. Wylie Secret Copy Share Image
“we should recognize the existence and power of these cumulative strategies and integrate them more carefully into our basic strategic thinking; and… — J.C. Wylie Life Copy Share Image
“If any two theories of strategy are not compatible, then neither of them is a valid general theory. Both of them have,… — J.C. Wylie Strategy Copy Share Image
“It should be clearly understood that this term “equilibrium” does not mean a static halt to action, although it conceivably could be… — J.C. Wylie Equilibrium Copy Share Image
“Terrain” as a word does not have deep meaning to the nonsoldier, but to the soldier it is everything. It is the… — J.C. Wylie Copy Share Image
“What are the relationships, the correlations, between destruction and control? What will this show of force (which is potential destruction) or that… — J.C. Wylie Destruction Copy Share Image
