An Analysis of the Relationship between Contemporary Western Military Theory, Systems Thinking, and their Key Schools-of-Thought
type: CreativeWork
description: Since the 1990s, systems concepts have been used to enhance military theory. Such fusion assumes a strong relationship between systems thinking and military theory. This assumption underpins military concepts such as Effects-Based Operations, which was influential in planning the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. The military failures in these wars led scholars to criticise systems-based concepts within military theory and practice. Nevertheless, practitioners and academics continue to use systems concepts to inform contemporary military doctrine and education. Such education shapes military professionals' thinking on how to plan for, and conduct, war. This thesis investigates the relationship between contemporary Western military theory, systems thinking, and their key schools-of-thought. The thesis identifies that the assumed relationship is founded on a belief that the world is made up of systems. This worldview, known as 'hard systems thinking', is held by both advocates and critics. There appears to be little consideration of the alternative systems worldview: 'soft systems thinking'. This second school-of-thought views the world as complex and uses systems as frameworks to enhance understanding. The thesis explains how these systems paradigms have similarities with the two military theory worldviews of 'war as science' and 'war as art', respectively. Investigating how these schools-of-thought influence systems concepts may help explain when and how to use systems thinking to enhance military theory. The investigation finds a strong relationship between military theory and systems thinking. This relationship is underpinned by the complementary use of both hard and soft systems thinking schools-of-thought. The thesis reviews the works of twelve military writers from across recorded history to find this relationship. The 2003-2011 Iraq War provides an illustrative case study. This case study corroborates the investigation's findings, and provides initial insight into ho…
abstract: Since the 1990s, systems concepts have been used to enhance military theory. Such fusion assumes a strong relationship between systems thinking and military theory. This assumption underpins military concepts such as Effects-Based Operations, which was influential in planning the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. The military failures in these wars led scholars to criticise systems-based concepts within military theory and practice. Nevertheless, practitioners and academics continue to use systems concepts to inform contemporary military doctrine and education. Such education shapes military professionals' thinking on how to plan for, and conduct, war. This thesis investigates the relationship between contemporary Western military theory, systems thinking, and their key schools-of-thought. The thesis identifies that the assumed relationship is founded on a belief that the world is made up of systems. This worldview, known as 'hard systems thinking', is held by both advocates and critics. There appears to be little consideration of the alternative systems worldview: 'soft systems thinking'. This second school-of-thought views the world as complex and uses systems as frameworks to enhance understanding. The thesis explains how these systems paradigms have similarities with the two military theory worldviews of 'war as science' and 'war as art', respectively. Investigating how these schools-of-thought influence systems concepts may help explain when and how to use systems thinking to enhance military theory. The investigation finds a strong relationship between military theory and systems thinking. This relationship is underpinned by the complementary use of both hard and soft systems thinking schools-of-thought. The thesis reviews the works of twelve military writers from across recorded history to find this relationship. The 2003-2011 Iraq War provides an illustrative case study. This case study corroborates the investigation's findings, and provides initial insight into ho…
author: Bosio, Nick
language: en_AU
date published: 2022
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:07:27Z
provider: Australian Catholic University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Australian Catholic University

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/1885/260048