Concepts and Doctrine Archives

#WavellReviews ‘Adaptation under Fire: How Militaries Change in Wartime’ by Lt. General (Ret’d) David Barno and Nora Bensahel.

The Wavell Room TeamJanuary 14, 2021January 10, 2021

by The Wavell Room TeamJanuary 14, 2021January 10, 202103717

This book offers significant context and substance to our collective understanding of military change and how we conceptualise adaptability. Its clarity and purpose is refreshing...

Decolonising Professional Military Education

Malte Riemann and Norma RossiJanuary 9, 2021January 9, 2021

by Malte Riemann and Norma RossiJanuary 9, 2021January 9, 202107326

Decolonizing as a project and practice has generated renewed attention since the global Black Lives Matter protests’ demands for a far-reaching engagement with the structural...

Thinking like Sun Tzu – Part 1

Wayne HallJanuary 6, 2021January 5, 2021

by Wayne HallJanuary 6, 2021January 5, 202105652

This is the first in a 2-part series that aims to help people better understand and use a number of Sun Tzu’s aphorisms....

Building an Effective Indigenous Counter-Insurgency Force – Part 2

Jeffrey GreenhutDecember 29, 2020December 28, 2020

by Jeffrey GreenhutDecember 29, 2020December 28, 202003798

During their occupation of India, the British built one of the most effective indigenous military forces in history, the British Indian Army. This is not to...

Concepts and Doctrine Land Opinion

Building an Effective Indigenous Counter-Insurgency Force – Part 1.

Jeffrey GreenhutDecember 22, 2020December 21, 2020

by Jeffrey GreenhutDecember 22, 2020December 21, 202004582

I’ve studied Counter insurgency for decades. When I served in the 6th Special Forces Group over fifty years ago, I was assigned to edit a...

#WavellReviews – “War by Others’ Means” by Dr Jack Watling and Nick Reynolds (A RUSI paper)

WillDecember 16, 2020December 10, 2020

by WillDecember 16, 2020December 10, 202003854

The difficulty of extricating from expeditionary campaigns makes the use of deniable, ‘fire and forget’ assistance from special forces appealing to governments with an eye...

A culture of apathy and dishonesty within the British Army

James BurtonDecember 9, 2020December 20, 2020

by James BurtonDecember 9, 2020December 20, 2020014765

I write this opinion piece from a position of fortune – I am lucky to be in a job where I work with, and lead, circa...

Concepts and Doctrine Opinion

Motivations, Mechanisms and Metrics in a Command Structure.

Scottie MacDecember 4, 2020November 21, 2020

by Scottie MacDecember 4, 2020November 21, 202003616

“Why does London have no queues for bread? Back in Moscow, our finest minds are working on the bread supply system, and yet there are...

#WavellReviews ‘Mission Improbable: The Transformation of the British Army Reserve’ by Patrick Bury

ChrisNovember 18, 2020November 8, 2020

by ChrisNovember 18, 2020November 8, 202004296

‘Mission Improbable’ has been exquisitely researched. In places, its level of detail reminded me of reading Anthony Beevor’s Stalingrad....

LET’S TALK ABOUT HUMAN SECURITY

Toby FentonNovember 12, 2020April 6, 2021

by Toby FentonNovember 12, 2020April 6, 202103812

Whichever way you look at it, understanding and addressing human security is a challenging problem. It isn’t just complicated, it’s highly complex. In principle, human...