One of the best military thinkers today
This book is one of the best strategy books I've read lately. His ideas are really thought provoking. The only negative thing I have to say about this is that in one or two chapters he tends to talk about weapon systems or military ideas that really only make sense to a american general.
But overall it is a masterpiece.
I wish that his Fighting by minutes will be released again for a better price. And I wish that he writes a new book soon.
The author rates 5 stars as an antagonist, the book 3 stars.
"The Principles of War For the Information Age" is an ambitious book seeking to not only redefine but replace the traditional MOOSEMUSS (maneuver, objective, offensive, surprise, economy of force, mass, unity of command, simplicity, and security) principles of war. The book consists mainly of the author's thoughts with only a few weak historical examples given as evidence. The book does not provide a compelling case for change, but serves well as a thought-provoking essay. One finds enough material to keep the readers' interest to complete the book with an occasional nugget of gold. One has to admire the author's courage in writing the book as an active duty officer. The Army should assign the author to a prestigious military research center or college.
Unique perspective
What really impresed me about this book was Leonhard's application of physics terms to modern warfare. Using quantities like "velocity", "momentum" and "mass", he distills modern warfare to its most basic components, and by so doing, offers the foundation for the proper application of maneuver doctrine in 21st century arms.While perhaps not as engaging as "The Art of Maneuver", "The Principles of War for the Information Age" is another significant contribution to military theory by an outstanding author.
A bit of a disappointment
There are some tidbits of wisdom in the soup offered up by Leonhard. Following his excellent The Art of Maneuver, and Fighting by Minutes, Principles begins as a much needed critique of the classical principles of war. He shows with great gusto that many are mutually contradicting, like mass, security, and maneuver. You can't hide a large force, or make it move very quickly. Nor can you hide a moving force. I suppose Leonhard hoped that his new principles of war would take off, and generate whole new doctrines and policy for the "information age." His Three Laws of War are an excellent step forward in anthropology and psychology, but whether they will be much use on the battlefield or policy centers is unclear.
Rather than scrap aging principles for a new way of thinking, as I had hoped, Leonhard appends several new "principles" to his three laws. Having read his other books with much enjoyment, I was shocked to see him actually state that the quintissential fog of war would be lifted in the information age, especially after the derision he heaped on just that idea in The Art of Maneuver.
Frankly, I would recommend this book to anyone who blindly subscribes to the touted "Principles of War," if only to see more innovative thinking. The latter part of the book, on the "new" principles of war remain to be demonstrated in reality.
A thought-provoking discussion of modern warfare principles.
What are the new ethical and military principles for fighting a war using today's modern machinery and equipment? Principles of War for the Information Age provides a thought-provoking discussion of modern warfare and the new principles of such battle, discussing implications of precision warfare, objectives in war, and civilian and military concerns alike.
