Examines the three types of misfortune--failure to learn, to anticipate, and to adapt--and shows their implication in a variety of defeats in the twentieth century

Military Misfortunes: The Anatomy of Failure in War

History

John Gooch

Eliot A. Cohen

Americas

Free Press

In this controversial book which topped President George W. Bush's reading list, Cohen challenges the long-held belief that politicians should step aside and leave the business of war to the military.

Supreme Command

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

The Free Press

Eliot Cohen directed the 5 volume survey. Lewis D. Hill, et al. authored this V. 5. Consists of two reports. The first report, A Statistical Compendium, concentrates on airpower-related aspects of the conflict. Organized in roughly chronological order, it moves from prewar force postures and the deployment of Desert Shield through the air campaign of Desert Storm, tabulating aircraft victories and losses as well as the human cost of the war. The second report, Chronology, outlines many of the principal events of clear, direct, and tangible relevance to the planning of the Gulf War.

Gulf War Air Power Survey, Volume V: A Statistical Compendium and Chronology

Military

Department of the Air Force

Americans often think of the Civil War as the conflict that consolidated the United States, including its military values and practices. But there was another, earlier, and more protracted struggle between “North” and “South,” beginning in the 1600s and lasting for more than two centuries, that shaped American geopolitics and military culture. Here, Eliot A. Cohen explains how the American way of war emerged from a lengthy struggle with an unlikely enemy: Canada. In Conquered into Liberty, Cohen describes how five peoples—the British, French, Americans, Canadians, and Indians—fought over the key to the North American continent: the corridor running from Albany to Montreal dominated by the Champlain valley and known to Native Americans as the “Great Warpath.” He reveals how conflict along these two hundred miles of lake, river, and woodland shaped the country’s military values, practices, and institutions. Through a vivid narration of a series of fights— woodland skirmishes and massacres, bloody frontal assaults and fleet actions, rear-guard battles and shadowy covert actions—Cohen explores how a distinctively American approach to war developed along the Great Warpath. He weaves together tactics and strategy, battle narratives, and statecraft, introducing readers to such fascinating but little-known figures as Justus Sherwood, loyalist spy; Jeduthan Baldwin, self-taught engineer; and La Corne St. Luc, ruthless partisan leader. And he reintroduces characters we thought we knew—an admirable Benedict Arnold, a traitorous Ethan Allen, and a devious George Washington. A gripping read grounded in serious scholarship, Conquered into Liberty will enchant and inform readers for decades to come.

Conquered into Liberty: Two Centuries of Battles along the Great Warpath that Made the American Way of War

Commandos and politicians: Elite military units in modern democracies (Harvard studies in international affairs)

This fascinating study was first published in 1978 by the Harvard University Center for International Affairs.

Center for International Affairs, Harvard University

"Speak softly and carry a big stick" Theodore Roosevelt famously said in 1901, when the United States was emerging as a great power. It was the right sentiment, perhaps, in an age of imperial rivalry. But today many Americans doubt the utility of their global military presence, thinking it outdated, unnecessary, or even dangerous.In The Big Stick, Eliot A. Cohen--a scholar and practitioner of international relations--disagrees. He argues that hard power remains essential for American foreign policy. While acknowledging that the United States must be careful about why, when, and how it uses force, he insists that its international role is as critical as ever, and armed force is vital to that role. Cohen explains that American leaders must learn to use hard power in new ways and for new circumstances. The rise of a well-armed China, Russia's conquest of Crimea and eastern Ukraine, nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran, and the spread of radical Islamist movements like ISIS are some of the key threats to global peace. If the United States relinquishes its position as a strong but prudent military power and fails to accept its role as the guardian of a stable world order, we run the risk of unleashing disorder, violence, and tyranny on a scale not seen since the 1930s. The United States is still, as Madeleine Albright once dubbed it, "the indispensable nation."

The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force

Blackstone Audio,Inc.

[Read by Bill Thatcher] A renowned scholar of international relations argues that even in a changing world, American military power is as crucial as ever. In The Big Stick, Eliot A. Cohen argues that the United States must use military power in support of its foreign policy, but that doing so will be increasingly difficult. The United States must continue to assume primary responsibility for maintaining world order, or risk a chaotic international environment reminiscent of the 1920s and 1930s -- but this time with far more devastating weapons in dangerous hands. America faces major national security challenges: a rising China, enduring jihadi movements, states like Russia and Iran that attempt to upend regions they then seek to dominate, and precarious ungoverned regions from anarchic lands such as Libya to the intangible arena of cyberspace. To confront these problems, our government must revive old concepts such as mobilization and preemption and, more importantly, engage in original thinking about how, and under what conditions, the United States should use force -- as it will undoubtedly find itself compelled to do. Combining the scholarship of a prize-winning historian, the experience of a former senior diplomat, and the fluency of a gifted essayist, Cohen shows how America must rethink and reorder its armed strength to meet the needs of a world in flux.

Gulf War Air Power Survey: Logistic and Support

Middle East

Ross & Perry, Inc.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Eliot A. Cohen. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Eliot A. Cohen

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Eliot A. Cohen. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Military Misfortunes: The Anatomy of Failure in War

Supreme Command

Gulf War Air Power Survey, Volume V: A Statistical Compendium and Chronology

Conquered into Liberty: Two Centuries of Battles along the Great Warpath that Made the American Way of War

Commandos and politicians: Elite military units in modern democracies (Harvard studies in international affairs)

The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force

The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force

Gulf War Air Power Survey: Logistic and Support