ABOUT THE BOOK

Conceptualising the foundations of national defence and organising a conformingly robust military structure is a humungous task of extremely complexities. Even nations who possess pristine strategic vision and deep rooted military culture find it practically impossible to home on to the right equation between their political goals, military power and optimal resource allocation.

The reason lies in the fact that no matter what mock drills one puts up, outcome of military campaigns often remain uncertain and unpredictable, and independent of the forces fielded to secure victory. There can be no right formulae, no right examples and no practice round to hone one`s concepts and practices before the final, bloody and destructive showdown. Irreversibility of war further makes it a nightmare for military planners to guarantee success. At the best they can apply their professional insight to anticipate adverse situations, notionally replicate these and then harness tactical acumen to find possibly the most effective courses of actions to deal with the circumstances.

It is here that the salience of various issues discussed in this book come into contention. The book does not offer formulae for the achievement of military success. Rather it offers an insight into the ingredients and processes that enable military planners to conceive the best possible force composition to win wars. 

ABOUT Author

Lieutenant General Gautam Banerjee, PVSM,AVSM,YSM (Retd) is a decorated war veteran, a former Chief of Staff, Central Army Command and a former Commandant of the Officers` Training Academy, Chennai. Post superannuation in 2011, he is a Senior Fellow at the Vivekananda International Foundation, New Delhi and a Mentor with the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses and the United Services Institute, New Delhi, and the Consulting Editor of India`s most prominent defence journal, the `Indian Defence Review`.

Besides speaking and participating in security related seminars and discussions in India and abroad, the General has authored over a hundred papers and seven books on military strategy, organisation and history. He has also edited and contributed to six policy perspective books so far. His engagements also include the Trusteeship in three trusts working on soldiers` welfare and morale.