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The Defence of Australia and the Limits of Land Power
Author: Alan Stephens
Volume 3, Number 4 (November 2007), pp. 29-44.
Abstract
Australian defence policy has generally favoured expeditionary campaigns over the more independent ‘defence of Australia’ approach, even though those campaigns almost invariably have failed at one or more levels. Currently the expeditionary model is again being strongly promoted by proponents of land power, primarily through its associated concepts of ‘war amongst the people’ and the ‘three-block’ war. Those concepts are, however, based on assumed capabilities that armies do not have and cannot acquire; indeed, somewhat ironically, they expose the innate limits of land power. Australia is in the fortunate position of being able to circumvent those limits by adopting a primarily defensive military strategy which both avoids the flawed logic of expeditionary campaigns and offers a credible method for controlling the immediate environment and defending the fundamentals of our national well-being.
About the Author
Dr Alan Stephens is a visiting fellow at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy. His most recent book is Making Sense of War: Strategy for the 21st Century (Cambridge University Press, 2006). alans@webone.com.au.
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