Learning from the Stones

Most of the ideas that form of the foundation of American defense policy and military strategy today were once new and untested concepts at the far edge of strategic thought. It took thinkers of vision and creativity to give them life and refine them to the point they could be adopted by the defense community and used for strategy and force development. This is a never ending process: new strategic concepts constantly emerge, some fade away, a few pass the tests of suitability, feasibility, and acceptability and make it into the mainstream. To help with this process of identifying those new and untested strategic concepts that merit further examination, the Strategic Studies Institute is publishing a special series called "Advancing Strategic Thought." This provides a venue--a safe haven--for creative, innovative, and experimental thinking about national security policy and military strategy. The study by David Lai is the inaugural publication in the Advancing Strategic Thought Series. In it, Dr. Lai uses the ancient game of Go as a metaphor for the Chinese approach to strategy. He shows that this is very different than the linear method that underlies American strategy. By better understanding Go, Lai argues, American strategists could better understand Chinese strategy. The Strategic Studies Institute is pleased to officer this unique and creative analysis as part of the Advancing Strategic Thought Series.