A general staff officer of the Swiss Army, Monnet offers students of contemporary war a corrective to the iconoclasm and buzzwords from war colleges and think tanks that have beclouded strategic thought in the last decade and a half. His perspective on strategy in the 21st century puts to shame the promiscuous check lists of counter-insurgency tactics derived from colonial warfare and the dogmas of technological primacy in combat. His work contains a trans-Atlantic synthesis of otherwise countervailing ideas and practice. He eschews the deadend of junking the classical school and merges recent experience at arms with this valid heritage. This book highlights the young school in the brains of the Swiss Army and its centuries long contribution to strategic thought.

Grégoire Monnet is general staff officer of the Swiss Armed Forces. He studied National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduale School in Monterey/CAL.