Newsletter July 2007 #69

Table of Contents:

Alexander Mackenzie's Bookshelf

A Theory of Combat

Probably one of the best books on modern warfare ever written was Dick Simpkin's Race to the Swift: Thoughts on Manoeuvre Warfare in the 21^st Century. It would be nice to provide more bibliographic information, but the Institute's copy of this extraordinary but much overlooked study went walkabouts a couple of years ago and the search for a replacement has been fruitless (we even violated the Bibliophile's code and ordered from Amazon.com, so far without result).

Simpkin was one of these casual geniuses who could throw off enough ideas as asides to keep schools full of graduate students busy for entire careers. A selection include his profound insight about the 'wavelength' of dominant technologies, a short musing about a possible relationship between appreciation for classical music and the generalship, or his parallel thinking about the 'wavelength' (again) of battlefields -- where a Corps Commander or a fighter pilot thinks about tens of kilometres and a foot-soldier with a carbine may be thinking about tens of metres. How does one harmonize the different frequencies of their activities? Essentially Simpkin was pre-occupied with manoeuvre theory -- the art and science of general-ship and grand tactics in battle -- and understood something about it at an intuitive level; but his attempt to fully articulate a grand theory fails.

His preoccupation with physics, statistics and psychology as the three elements of a grand theory is a fascinating exploration. But like some great artist or scientist trying to depict an insight that is just beyond his reach, the smaller discoveries he leaves in his wake are more than enough to preoccupy lesser minds.

There will always be War... Get over it

In my first year at the Mackenzie Institute, our founder Maurice Tugwell introduced me to Colin S. Gray as being the foremost strategic thinker in the world today. He was right. In 1990 Gray seemed immune to the fashionable constructs of the day, limitlessly clear in his thinking and gifted with what looked like an effortlessly lucid style of exposition. He has improved on these since.

Colin Grey's 2005 book Another Bloody Century is an excellent essay (Orion Books, London 2005) that should be read by every diplomat, cabinet member and general officer. His arguments come to these:

1. War is a permanent part of the human condition;

2. History, unreliable as it is, is our only guide to the future;

3. Interstate warfare is far from dead;

4. Remember! Warfare is political behaviour;

5. Warfare is always determined by social and cultural factors;

6. Changes in warfare are not always predictable;

1. Efforts to control or limit war are in the end always trumped by necessity.

Gray can be intimidating; his arguments and prose are faultless and clear, and every page has one observation or maxim that deserves to get cited in future editions of Bartlett's or Oxford Dictionaries of Quotations. However, it was a welcome relief to spot one error in the first paragraph of his first introduction. He attributes a quote to Plato that actually came from Thucydides -- the Greek historian. Ha! Now this writer doesn't feel quite so intimidated.

Our Punks on Our Streets

Just who do we blame for Canada's growing street gang problem, and how do we fix it: More cops? More serious jail time? More social workers and social programs? More funding for schools? Form youth groups? 'Yes' to all of the above, and if we want to blame anyone, blame ourselves first. Michael Chettleburgh's Young Thugs: Inside the Dangerous World of Canada's Street Gangs, (Harper Collins, Toronto, 2007) is the most recent result of his comprehensive and systemic study of the phenomenon in Canada.

Our swelling problem derives from several causes -- massive immigration and its effects probably lie at the heart of them all, but Chettleburgh is also swift to point out that there has always been an inclination for young men to form gangs of one kind or another. We have been slow in providing a plentiful supply of the 'another' (cadets, sports teams, scouting troops, etc.) which are so useful in socializing young males -- particularly those who come from households without a decent male role model present.

In Canada, street gangs include representation from all races, and can be found in almost every major city -- and elsewhere. If we are to reverse their growth, we may have to take a whole spectrum of solutions simultaneously. Chettleburgh has more claim to expertise on Canada's street gangs than anyone else -- having done more original research on the subject than anyone else. This is a useful book, although perhaps some of his asides and more orthodox political observations were unnecessary.

John Thompson is President of the Mackenzie Institute which studies political instability and terrorism. He can be reached at: mackenzieinstitute@bellnet.ca