Operational Art

This book examines the meaning and management of time as a facet of the art of war in general but especially operational art. While force-time-place has for a long time been considered to be the essential trinity of warfare, the aspect of time remains largely under-researched. Relying on classic texts on art of war, the author engages with some of the top theorists and practitioners of art of war from the age of Sun Tzu to the network-centric warfare about the role of time and its management in operational art. Relying on Alvin Toffler’s theory of the “three waves,” the volume follows research into the development of operational art through cycles from the agrarian age to the industrial age and into the information age.

Operational art emerged from the campaigns of Frederick the Great to the end of the Napoleonic Wars. It was the result of three dynamic interrelationships: between military and non-military factors such as social, economic and political developments; between military theory and practice; and between developments in military theory and practice in France and Prussia.

This study focuses on the operational level of war—that level which links tactics to strategy. The study seeks to identify and define principles applicable to the operational level of war. If valid, those principles ought to guide and/or govern the conduct of war at the operational level.