Strategy in the 21st Century

Can military superiority compensate for bad strategy?

In this special episode of The Focus, Dr John Bruni speaks with Sir Lawrence Freedman—one of the world’s foremost authorities on strategy and war—about the strategic failures shaping today’s increasingly interconnected conflicts.

Using the Iran War as a starting point, Sir Lawrence explains why strategy remains an art rather than a science, why overwhelming military power cannot guarantee a satisfactory political outcome, and why states must consider how a war will end before they begin it.

The conversation examines whether Iran has proved more strategically effective than the United States, the internal struggle over Iranian policy, the independence of the Houthis, and the growing connections between the conflicts involving Iran, Russia and Ukraine.

John and Sir Lawrence also discuss:

• The difference between military action and political strategy
• Bismarck and Moltke’s disagreement during the Franco-Prussian War


• Pete Hegseth and the dangers of strategic boasting
• The emerging Adversarial Entente


• Why the current disorder may benefit China
• Europe’s capacity to defend itself against Russia


• America’s changing relationship with its allies
• The “hurting stalemate” in Ukraine
• SAGE International’s Threshold Conditioning model
• The danger of escalation and war by miscalculation


• China’s strategy towards Taiwan


• How Australia can resist coercion below the threshold of war


• The most important lesson for the next generation of strategists

This is a wide-ranging discussion about the enduring relationship between force, politics and strategic judgement—and what happens when governments possess enormous military power but lack a realistic political end state.

ABOUT SIR LAWRENCE FREEDMAN

Sir Lawrence Freedman is one of the world’s leading scholars of strategy and war. His influential books include Strategy: A History, Command and The Future of War. His work has shaped contemporary thinking about military power, political decision-making and the changing character of conflict.

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