The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century | USMC, Colonel Thomas X. Hammes

The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century | USMC, Colonel Thomas X. Hammes | Insightful, thought-provoking and highly persuasive

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The Sling and the ...

	The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century USMC, Colonel Thomas X. Hammes Zenith Press, 2006 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 39 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

One of the finest analyses of contemporary warfare

What is 4th generation warfare (or 4GW)? The simple answer is that it is the strategic choice of terrorists and of our enemies in Iraq today. Hammes takes the reader through the history of the previous 3 generations of warfare (3rd generation warfare is largely used by US military) and shows how each generation was used to defeat the previous one including how 4GW is defeating us. Hammes then discusses 4GW beginning with Mao and discussing important military and political events including Vietnam, the Sandanistas,the 1st and 2nd Intifadas, Iraq, and Afghanistan (a partcularly strong chapter in my opinion).

In addition to pointing out all the problems that our 3rd generation military has in dealing with 4th generation armies, Hammes proposes some solutions. Primarily he seems to advocate for reform in the military that would take us from a technologically oriented and weapons oriented military to a personnel oriented military, in a nutshell one that would consist of more specialized, more experienced, more well educated, and more autonomous troops on the field.

Whether or not Hammes has all the answers is perhaps a matter of debate, but he undoubtedly has valuable, well-researched opinons that are worth reading for anyone with an interest in military history or arm-chair generaling.

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Insightful, thought-provoking and highly persuasive

Col. Hammes not only identifies a crucial weakness in American military preparedness, he goes further by suggesting specific, sweeping changes to address the new challenges the U.S. faces. His reasoning is clear and his conclusions are convincing. Readers who agree with Hammes should consider spreading the word, not only to their friends, but to the elected representatives who can press for change.

Great book

This is by far the best book on insurgent, Maoist, guerrilla warfare that I have ever read.
This book should be a part of any military professional reading program.

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Understanding brings freedom from fear.

This book is excellent in explaining the history past present and future of warfare. It takes away irrational fear of what is happening in the world, because it gives tools for interpreting what we hear and see in the news.

Key implications not just for warfare, but for the marketplace as well

As a layman when it comes to military strategy and tactics, I found The Sling and the Stone to offer an accessible explanation of three key elements of 4th Generation Warfare. First, how the first three generations evolved, overlapped, and distinguished themselves from one another. Second, how 4GW has itself matured throughout the 20th and into the 21st centuries. And third, the practical implications of 4GW for our military planning and policy decisions today.

Published in 2004, before the Iraqui conflict had become as complex as it is today, Hammes' book is not a political manifesto on current policy. Rather, it takes aim at the higher-level question of how the evolution of military conflict has allowed rag-tag, largely civillian armies, to defeat vastly superior (in terms of training, equippage and technology) conventional forces. Furthermore, Hammes offers a convincing argument that such defeats have not been random events, but rather the outcome of careful planning by guerilla strategists and field tacticians who studied their own and others' successes and failures, not to mention their politically and militarily evolving opponents, and have relentlessly adapted accordingly.

The book's primary weakness is its uneven writing. Hammes first drafted sections of the book for academic courses at various military colleges over the prior 10 years. And certain sections feel exactly like Master's thesis prose. Despite a hostile reception from a handful of traditionalist military theorists, however, the strength of Hammes' concepts and his dogged determination to create clarity overcome those slightly clunky stretches.

Finally - in addition to the obvious contribution this book can make to any current debate about the right or wrong next steps for US military and foreign policy - there is an implication here that Hammes does not explore (as it's not part of his objective), but which fascinated me from early on in the book. The parallels of 4GW for business seem to me to be stark. Whereas traditional business- and market-planning assumed fairly concrete and repeatable forms during the 20th century, on that front, too, the world faces a shifting target. Small companies using unconventional strategies have emerged to strike fear into traditionalist giants (think of Google putting fear into Microsoft, or the worries that Skype raised for AT&T, for instance).

Additionally, and perhaps more immediately, the way that companies employ, train and engage workforces today largely follows an early- to mid-20th century script that 50 years ago applied specifically because there was little alternative to the traditional model: employment for life. Today, on the other hand, employees operate largely with a guerilla or free agency mentality, while most business still recruit, hire and train employees using extremely conventional tactics. For them, while they often acknowledge the frailty of their current approach, there is no 'next generation' model yet. That strikes me as an unsustainable situation.

While the military issues that Hammes raises have a life-and-death immediacy for the world today, the underlying parallels for the marketplace will be far reaching and significant, though they will unfold more slowly. Thus, in its layout of its basic concepts, The Sling and the Stone offers fodder for thought that should extend beyond its overt military topic.

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reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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