 Offensive versus Defensive: Military Strategy and Alternative DefenceWilhelm Agrell
Journal of Peace Research, 1987, vol. 24, issue 1, 75-85 Abstract: Since the early 1980s the concept of non-offensive defence has gained considerable support in peace movements as well as among peace researchers in Western Europe. The debate has, however, become a 'for' and 'against' argument, while fundamental analytical questions have been left aside. This article deals with the nature of the premises for the implementation of defence policy alternatives based on specific technologies with assumed political and strategic effects. The distinction between offensive and defensive appears, in a historical perspective, as far more complex than assumed in the current debate. The concept of non-offensive defence presupposes that these distinctions can be handled through conscious and rational choices. Research in the interaction between technological change and military strategy and in the determining factors for the development of military technology and weapons systems provides very little support for such a conclusion. The concept of non-offensive defence, as presently developed, therefore appears as an attempted short-cut past the basic problems involved in the control of the development of military technology, and the debate therefore runs the risk of ending as just another 'single-weapon concept', soon to be forgotten. Date: 1987 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:joupea:v:24:y:1987:i:1:p:75-85 Access Statistics for this article More articles in Journal of Peace Research from Peace Research Institute Oslo |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.