The Utility of Force


 

Publication Date: August 1984

Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Thomas Owens Mackubin

Research Area: Military and defense

Keywords: National security

Type: Report

Abstract:

It may be regrettable, but wars'are sometimes necessary to a nation's honor, if not its very survival. The U.S. must acknowledge that world reality dictates that good can sometimes come of military force, or there can be no hope for true military reform. Organizational or doctrinal changes may have marginal impact on the operational or strategic capability of American military forces, but the assumptions of the political leadership concerning the use of military force are far more fundamental.