cover image Desert Storm: The Gulf War and What We Learned

Desert Storm: The Gulf War and What We Learned

Michael J. Mazarr. Westview Press, $44.5 (207pp) ISBN 978-0-8133-1598-0

The authors (staff members of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.) cover an impressive amount of ground in this clarifying survey of the Gulf war and its lessons. In their view, the 1990-1991 war demonstrated that the doctrine of deterrence as a national security strategy is bankrupt; that the highly touted theory of maneuver warfare came into its own during Desert Storm (``maneuver warfare can slice inflexible enemies to pieces, destroy their morale, and keep friendly casualties to an absolute minimum''); that an adequate logistical effort is indispensible to victory; and that assembling international coalitions will be necessary for victory in future contingency operations. The Gulf war, they point out, was unique. It was, for instance, the first 24-hour ground war in history: advances in night-vision equipment enabled U.S. troops to fight nonstop. Photos. (Feb.)