Military Review English Edition March-April 2014 | Page 93

BOOK REVIEWS

attention to the nuances of organizational cultures,
policy debates, and the interpretation of lessons
learned from previous conflicts. He recognizes and
attempts to explain the complexities of decisions
concerning the use of military force. While he
theorizes that post-war analogies and interpretations
of the Vietnam War “continue to have a profound
legacy for American policy and the U.S. military,”
Gambone explores the influences that go far beyond
this legacy. He concludes that the U.S. military of
the last decade evolved to meet the contingencies
of present warfare (the past 20 years) far better and
to a greater degree than the Army of the Vietnam
era, but these reforms came late and are likely to
recede in the future.
Gambone explores this history through a combination of chronology and topics that extend
throughout the period. He starts with an overview
of the Cold War and then dissects events of the last
40 years. Toward the end of the book, Gambone
explores related themes that have influenced U.S.
participation in low-intensity conflict, providing
useful chapters on the war on drugs and the rise of
private military corporations. Following the effective
analysis in each of these, Gambone is able to capture
the essence in well-articulated conclusions. In his
examination of the 1990s, Gambone makes the astute
observation that “military and civilian leadership
moved along parallel and complementary paths with

MILITARY REVIEW

March-April 2014

respect to small wars,” and that they “promoted
contradictory results of better preparedness for
low-intensity conflicts coupled with a reduced
commitment to them.” He further proposes that,
“Success proved to be one of the largest obstacles
to military adaptation in the 90s.” Each chapter
contains similarly well-connected conclusions that
are both thought provoking and grounded in the
evidence and analysis.
The book is especially relevant for its multidimensional look at military policy, operations,
and perspective changes over the last 40 years.
Gambone explains dynamics of strategic reassessments over those decades at the highest levels of
government that provide a not-so-distant mirror to
debates and proposals being reintroduced to the
strategic discourse today. Military professionals
who find themselves struggling with the recent
attention being given to “new” concepts would
do well to pause and read Gambone’s book. The
U.S. military has struggled with building partnerships and capacity, persistent engagement,
light-footprint operations, and even “deviant globalization” for many years with varying degrees
of success. Any insightful understanding of recent
history, such as this book provides, will be useful
in approaching discussions of these themes.
Lt. Col. Jan K. Gleiman, USA,
Kansas State University

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