Name: Odugbesan Oluwafeyisayo Victoria
Matric number: 190114014
Department: History and Strategic Studies {I.C.E}
Course Title: Defense & Strategy Since the 20th
Century
Course Code: HSS 432
Question: Briefly describe the concepts of defense and
strategy.
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Defense and strategy are foundations of security studies and military science, which
drive how states, organizations, and individuals protect interests and achieve goals.
Defense entails primarily the doing of things aimed at counter-attacking aggression as
well as defending, whereas strategy entails the coordination and direction of actions to
derive benefit from a better strategic position compared to competing forces. Defense
and strategy evolved over the decades following technological transformation,
geopolitical reconfiguration, and military revolution. The study of defense and
strategy is very important in analyzing previous wars, contemporary security issues,
and future war evolution.
Defense refers to the act of defending oneself, a state, or territory against any external
threat that is military, political, or economic. It consists of physical, tactical, and
strategic measures to deter or discourage an opponent from aggression against one. It
may be active or passive. Active defense involves measures like counterattack,
preemptive strike, and military operations to neutralize a threat before it is firmly
established. Passive defense involves measures like fortification, intelligence, and
diplomacy to deter war. Defense systems have been at the center of military strategy
throughout history, from China's Great Wall as a physical deterrence to entry by
invaders to modern missile defense systems designed to destroy enemy attack before
it can cause harm. The effectiveness of defense systems depends on a host of variables,
from technological superiority, economic resources, to the ability for threat detection
and response in a timely manner.
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Strategy, conversely, is a broader notion of planning, coordinating, and taking action
relative to long-term goals. Militarily, strategy is the art of fighting, campaigning, and
waging war to achieve victory. Strategy involves analyzing one's own and the enemy's
military strengths and weaknesses, determining troop deployments, resource usage,
and battlefield tactics. The word strategy is not merely military; it has been used
abundantly in political, economic, and business spheres. Classical strategists such as
Carl von Clausewitz and Sun Tzu emphasized the requirements for flexibility,
deception, and psychological warfare in strategy. Clausewitz, in his seminal On War,
argued that war was the continuation of politics by other means, emphasizing the
intrinsic link between military strategy and broader political aims (Clausewitz, 1832).
Strategic thought has adapted in contemporary times to include cyber war, economic
sanctions, and hybrid models of warfare that combine military and non-military tools
to pursue hegemony.
The complementary relationship between strategy and defense is that good defense
requires good strategy, and strategic victory typically depends on the ability to defend
positions and assets of importance. Throughout history, the balance between offensive
and defensive strategy has decided great wars. For example, in World War II, the
Blitzkrieg strategy of Germany was based on fast, offensive warfare, yet the Soviet
defense-in-depth strategy eventually led to Germany's defeat on the Eastern Front.
Similarly, during the Cold War, the Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) policy was
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both strategy and defense for preventing nuclear war between the Soviet Union and
the United States (Freedman, 2003). These images show that while defense seeks to
deflect or dissipate threat, strategy determines how conflicts are fought, managed, and
ended.
Conclusively, defense and strategy are synonymous terms that explain how
individuals, organizations, and countries defend their interests and achieve their
objectives. While defense implies protection, deterrence, and immunity from damage,
strategy indicates planning and taking action to derive long-term advantages. Both
concepts have changed significantly over time, with technological innovations and
geopolitical forces accelerating the pace. A profound understanding of defense and
strategy is required by security professionals, policymakers, and military strategists to
decipher the form of global security in the contemporary period. With current wars
redefining the world of the 21st century, the ability to develop effective defense policy
and strategic campaigns will remain critical to the provision of peace, stability, and
national defense.
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References
Clausewitz, C. von. (1832). On War. Edited and translated by Michael Howard and
Peter Paret. Princeton University Press.
Freedman, L. (2003). The Evolution of Nuclear Strategy. Palgrave Macmillan.
Freedman, L. (2013). Strategy: A History. Oxford University Press.
Glantz, D. M. (2001). The Soviet-German War 1941-1945: Myths and Realities. Clio
Books.
Gray, C. S. (2014). Strategy and Defence Planning: Meeting the Challenge of
Uncertainty. Oxford University Press.
Keegan, J. (1993). A History of Warfare. Random House.
Luttwak, E. N. (1987). Strategy: The Logic of War and Peace. Harvard University
Press.
Sun Tzu. (5th century BCE). The Art of War. Translated by Samuel B. Griffith.
Oxford University Press.
