ABSTRACT
Strategy is a subject which has its roots in a sort of military logic, set by the constraints of time, space and capability, but its branches reach out far into history, culture and philosophy. The values of liberal societies are protected by their armed forces, as well as threatened by them. Academic strategists may have the privilege of thinking free from problems of relevance or practicality, but practicing strategists do not. Overcoming ethnocentrism might increase the possibility that nations will look for positive and co-operative solutions to their differences, but it will not remove all conflicts. Guilt Appeasement was a tactic which in some circumstances might have worked, but it was almost inevitably a disaster when tried against Nazi Germany. In the sporting language so much used by British diplomats, Neville Chamberlain backed the wrong horse, forgetting the dictum 'horses for courses'. Neville Chamberlain and his closest advisers fell down badly in this respect.
