Strategy and War Course Kicks Off

From Strategy and Policy Department
Nov. 15, 2012

NEWPORT, R.I. -- The U.S. Naval War College’s highly regarded Strategy and War Course began Nov. 13.

The opening week of the Strategy and War Course examines the famous work On War by Carl von Clausewitz and the timeless classic Sun Tzu’s Art of War. Strategy and Policy department professors Tim Hoyt, Dex Wilson, Toshi Yoshihara, and Brad Lee provided in-depth lectures for the students as part of this week’s opening to the course.

The 346 students in the intermediate-level class taking the course consist of officers and national security professionals from the United States as well as 35 partner countries. The Strategy and War Course is designed to teach students to think strategically. 

Professors challenge students to develop their ability to assess how alternative operational courses of action best achieve overall strategic and national objectives. Students are asked to think in a disciplined, critical,
and original manner about the international strategic environment, about a range of potential strategies, and about the strategic effects of joint, interagency, and multinational operations.

Students also engage with faculty moderators and each other in intense, graduate-level seminars. The classic studies examined this week provide a foundation, a starting point for analysis in what is widely considered the best course on strategy and war in professional military education.