ABSTRACT
Over the ages, the central thrust in waging war has been clear – as General Douglas MacArthur (1962) put it so succinctly, “in war there is no substitute for victory.” Victory has the capacity to “influence the destiny of nations, shaping alliance behavior, perceptions of credibility and resolve, post-conflict expectations, and notions of revenge” (Johnson and Tierney 2006). Yet across time, circumstance, and culture, victory has had dissimilar and often unclear meanings for winners and losers (Biddle 2004; Hanson 2001). Moreover, since the end of the Cold War, regardless of the margin of victory, it has been rare for military triumphs in battle to yield substantial postwar payoffs. Inadequate understanding of the complexities surrounding victory can result in decision-making paralysis, loss of internal and external support, escalating postwar violence (Schelling 1966: 12), pyrrhic triumphs, and, ultimately, foreign policy failure. This chapter attempts to provide a meaningful definition of postwar victory and contrast premodern and modern notions of victory.
