The 10 most common strategic blunders?

[ajtr]

The 10 most common strategic blunders?




While Tom Ricks is away from his blog, he has selected a few of his favorite posts to re-run. We will be posting a few every day until he returns. This originally ran on September 2, 2009.

I'll read anything by Andrew Krepinevich, the fine strategic thinker who bears a strong resemblance to Dwight Eisenhower circa 1939. Right now my subway reading is a new essay he has done with Barry Watts titled "Regaining Strategic Competence."

I was especially intrigued by the list of 10 common strategic blunders they attribute to business strategy expert Richard Rumelt:

1. Failure to recognize or take seriously the scarcity of resources.

2. Mistaking strategic goals for strategy.

3. Failure to recognize or state the strategic problem.

4. Choosing poor or unattainable strategic goals.

5. Not defining the strategic challenge competitively.

6. Making false presumptions about one's own competence or the likely causal linkages between one's strategy and one's goals.

7. Insufficient focus on strategy due to such things as trying to satisfy too many different stakeholders or bureaucratic processes.

8. Inaccurately determining one's areas of comparative advantage relative to the opposition.

9. Failure to realize that few individuals possess the cognitive skills and mindset to be competent strategists.

10. Failure to understand the adversary.

There is a whole book of military history to be written just finding good illustrations of each of those mistakes. I think the United States was guilty of No. 2 and No. 10 in Iraq from 2003 through 2006. I'd say the British tripped on No. 3 during the American Revolution. I think Hitler committed No. 4 when he tackled Russia. No. 10 is probably the most common error.

I'd be interested in other examples that you see.

 

[Martian2]

Nehru attacking China with Indian Forward Policy.

1. Nehru set India on a collision course with China.

2. India has spent a lot of money on defense after the humiliating loss in 1962.

3. India looked like an aggressor and weak in the eyes of the international community.

4. China recognizes India as an expansionist imperialist (holding occupied Chinese territories in South Tibet and Sikkim) and hence, no Chinese economic aid has been given to pathetically poor India. In contrast, China has provided the Africans with $20 billion and ASEAN with $25 billion over a three-year period.

Nehru's attack on China fulfills practically all ten of your benchmarks.

 

[ajtr]

Gandhi's advocacy/insistence of Nehru being made first Pm of india rather than Sardar Vallabh bai Patel thats the first and foremost blunder of independent india would have not resulted in all top 4 ones.

 

[Alchemy]

Nehru attacking China with Indian Forward Policy.

1. Nehru set India on a collision course with China.

2. India has spent a lot of money on defense after the humiliating loss in 1962.

3. India looked like an aggressor and weak in the eyes of the international community.

4. China recognizes India as an expansionist imperialist (holding occupied Chinese territories in South Tibet and Sikkim) and hence, no Chinese economic aid has been given to pathetically poor India. In contrast, China has provided the Africans with $20 billion and ASEAN with $25 billion over a three-year period.

Nehru's attack on China fulfills practically all ten of your benchmarks.

Where do you rate Tienanmen square in the list of blunders ? and the amount of shame it brought to China ?

 

[manofwar]

Nehru attacking China with Indian Forward Policy.

1. Nehru set India on a collision course with China.

2. India has spent a lot of money on defense after the humiliating loss in 1962.

3. India looked like an aggressor and weak in the eyes of the international community.

4. China recognizes India as an expansionist imperialist (holding occupied Chinese territories in South Tibet and Sikkim) and hence, no Chinese economic aid has been given to pathetically poor India. In contrast, China has provided the Africans with $20 billion and ASEAN with $25 billion over a three-year period.

Nehru's attack on China fulfills practically all ten of your benchmarks.

Are you sure you live in America and not in a cave in Tibet??
The whole world supported India against China.........Just google it once.
We did not invade sikkim, nor did we invade Arunachal Pradesh. They are a part of our legacy as the succesor of The british indian empire.
We too have provided Africa with $10 billion..........We do not need aid We spend more than $100 billion yearly on our poor

 

[tvsram1992]

Nehru attacking China with Indian Forward Policy.

1. Nehru set India on a collision course with China.

2. India has spent a lot of money on defense after the humiliating loss in 1962.

3. India looked like an aggressor and weak in the eyes of the international community.

4. China recognizes India as an expansionist imperialist (holding occupied Chinese territories in South Tibet and Sikkim) and hence, no Chinese economic aid has been given to pathetically poor India. In contrast, China has provided the Africans with $20 billion and ASEAN with $25 billion over a three-year period.

Nehru's attack on China fulfills practically all ten of your benchmarks.

1.China sacrificing their 500k soldiers lives in Korean war
2.China unable to take Sikkim and South Tibet and getting humiliated
3.Thinking 1962 as victory and got a blow from Vietnam after underestimating it
4.China copying every thing and nobody sells them anything , ended up in making cheap products
5.Crying and protesting by issuing staple visas , not able to take action against India

 

[OrionHunter]

2. India has spent a lot of money on defense after the humiliating loss in 1962.

So, this is a strategic blunder?

3. India looked like an aggressor and weak in the eyes of the international community.

Is this called a strategic blunder too?

You must really be from Mars as you don't seem to understand plain English. You guys keep beating about the bush and cannot get down to the specifics. When will you guys learn to stop tilting at windmills?

Jeeez! The clowns we have to put up with here!

 

[INDIC]

Nehru attacking China with Indian Forward Policy.

1. Nehru set India on a collision course with China.

2. India has spent a lot of money on defense after the humiliating loss in 1962.

3. India looked like an aggressor and weak in the eyes of the international community.

4. China recognizes India as an expansionist imperialist (holding occupied Chinese territories in South Tibet and Sikkim) and hence, no Chinese economic aid has been given to pathetically poor India. In contrast, China has provided the Africans with $20 billion and ASEAN with $25 billion over a three-year period.

Nehru's attack on China fulfills practically all ten of your benchmarks.

Greatest Chinese blunder was to overtake steel production of The United Kingdom in 4 years.

 

[Alchemy]

1.China sacrificing their 500k soldiers lives in Korean war
2.China unable to take Sikkim and South Tibet and getting humiliated
3.Thinking 1962 as victory and got a blow from Vietnam after underestimating it
4.China copying every thing and nobody sells them anything , ended up in making cheap products
5.Crying and protesting by issuing staple visas , not able to take action against India

Add to it

6.Crying aloud about SCS and no one there to listen to it

 

[INDIC]

Operation Gibraltar was another strategic blunder.

 

[Sashan]

Nehru attacking China with Indian Forward Policy.

1. Nehru set India on a collision course with China.

2. India has spent a lot of money on defense after the humiliating loss in 1962.

3. India looked like an aggressor and weak in the eyes of the international community.

4. China recognizes India as an expansionist imperialist (holding occupied Chinese territories in South Tibet and Sikkim) and hence, no Chinese economic aid has been given to pathetically poor India. In contrast, China has provided the Africans with $20 billion and ASEAN with $25 billion over a three-year period.

Nehru's attack on China fulfills practically all ten of your benchmarks.

Instead of item 1 which is misleading and so is wrong, the appropriate one should be


1. Trusting China and signing Panchsheel in 1954 only to find out that China violated the first principle of Panchsheel by building a road through Akshai Chin which was a disputed territory(and still is) between India/China without letting India know about it only for India to find out in 1957.

 

[notsuperstitious]

Strategic depth.





(pun intended)

 

[ajtr]

Strategic depth.





(pun intended)

How can you say its strategic blunder when it has been successfully implemented though the other way round.

 

[isro2222]

@tvsram1992 thats a good one.... Made me laugh.... However we just collecting hate by replying bad people on PDF.... Am sure your post had made many chinese angry and as a result they may be cursing you.... Nevertheless i like the post....

 

[harpoon]

Nehru attacking China with Indian Forward Policy.

1. Nehru set India on a collision course with China.

2. India has spent a lot of money on defense after the humiliating loss in 1962.

3. India looked like an aggressor and weak in the eyes of the international community.

4. China recognizes India as an expansionist imperialist (holding occupied Chinese territories in South Tibet and Sikkim) and hence, no Chinese economic aid has been given to pathetically poor India. In contrast, China has provided the Africans with $20 billion and ASEAN with $25 billion over a three-year period.

Nehru's attack on China fulfills practically all ten of your benchmarks.

In the end due to China's action in 1962, you got yourself a Nuclear India which has now the entire PRC under the range of her missiles.