Paths of Innovation in Warfare

Innovation shapes wars, and twelve studies by former faculty members of West Point's United States Military Academy examine specific cases of past and present military innovation. The complex, competitive, and dynamic environment that defines war drives combatants to seek solutions to potentially lethal problems. As some solutions prove effective, gain traction, and win emulation, they follow a path of innovation. The chapters address a broad array of innovations, including in weapon technology, strategy, research and development philosophy, organization of the military instrument, and leveraging maps for strategic goals. Geographically, the examples in this volume span four continents and the Mediterranean Sea, and chronologically they proceed from the twelfth century to the twenty first. Collectively, the studies point to the interconnected value of pursuing constructive solutions to challenges, networking interdisciplinary forms of knowledge, appropriately balancing expectations and capabilities, and understanding an innovation as a journey rather than as an episodic event.

Nicholas Michael Sambaluk is associate professor of strategy at Air University and author of The Other Space Race: Eisenhower and the Quest for Aerospace Security, named "Best Air Power History Book of 2016" by the Air Force Historical Foundation.

Introduction, Nicholas Michael Sambaluk
Chapter 1: Mapping the Mediterranean in the Age of the Crusades, Stuart H. Peebles
Chapter 2: "To Avoid Any Considerable Misfortune:" George Washington, Charles Lee, and Grand Strategy in the American Revolution, Adrienne M. Harrison
Chapter 3: The Texas Rangers and Samuel Colt: Partners in Combat Innovation, Nathan A. Jennings
Chapter 4: Ben Butler's Black Battalions: Political Generalship and Military Experimentation with African-Americans during the Civil War, Mark Ehlers
Chapter 5: New Frontiers: Making Alaska a Terra Cognita, Russ Vanderlugt
Chapter 6: Building Peace: Civil Affairs and Military Government in the Second World War, Dave Musick
Chapter 7: Mixing Spanners with Wrenches: SPOBS and the Establishment of an Anglo-American Aircraft Maintenance Program in Britain during World War II, Richard H. Anderson
Chapter 8: Managing Innovation: Protecting, Promoting, and Propagating Science and Technology in World War II, Nicholas Michael Sambaluk
Chapter 9: Innovating "Lawfare": The Use of Law as a Weapon in Cyprus, 1955-1959, Brian Drohan
Chapter 10: The Party Army as Innovation: Tracing the Origins of China's Modern Military, Jason Halub
Chapter 11: War by Tweet, Hashtag, and Media Messaging: Boko Haram's Media Warfare Challenges Nigeria's Information Campaign (2012-2015), John P. Ringquist
Chapter 12: Atrocity Early Warning: A Historiographical Study of the Prevention of Mass Atrocities, Charles Costanzo
Conclusion, Nicholas Michael Sambaluk