Suchergebnisse

The paper assembles facts about early man's existence and then, by inference, considers how strategic thinking may have developed. The general stages of man's development are recorded but, owing to the temporal and geographical diversity of this progress, the emergence of strategic thinking is considered against various formative factors, rather than against a time-line. Man's early existence would have been concerned with survival, but, under the influence of technological and societal advances, he could, from a more secure base, begin to think into the future and to try to influence events, rather than merely react. Under the influence of what the Greeks termed pleonexia (wanting more), warfare developed and became a major stimulus for the adoption of strategic thinking, although this could not be achieved without the use of writing and mathematics to provide a cognitive framework. Throughout the paper, reference is made to modern theories of strategy as found in management literature, where parallels are observed. The paper concludes that the employment of strategic thinking was gradual, but closely allied to societal and political developments.

The author has been fortunate in being granted interviews with the leading figures in Government, the Civil Service and the Military who participated in the SDR process and in having gained access to information in Ministry of Defence files under Freedom of Information legislation.

Politics, power, and influence impact upon strategy, where the intention to produce a foreign policy‐based strategic defence review was forgone during last‐minute adjustments and compromises over money.