Wars without victory: tensioms between political leadership and military command in the United States
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26792/rbed.v13i1.75541Keywords:
United States, Military power, arms reductionism, civilian controlAbstract
The United States’ military performance in recent decades reveals a paradox between its extraordinary military capabilities and its limited effectiveness in achieving strategic victories. Although its armed forces have demonstrated unprecedented military superiority, conflicts such as Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran show that military dominance does not guarantee the achievement of the political objectives that motivate the use of force. This study argues that this gap between military capabilities and political outcomes stems from factors that go beyond military potential. The article examines how organizational, cultural, and training factors shape the interaction between political leadership and the armed forces, hindering both the definition of political objectives and their achievement by the military. The case analyzed is that of the United States, both due to its constant involvement in armed conflicts and the availability of primary and secondary sources. This article aims to expand a body of literature that is very scarce in the region and where, in military circles and among academics dedicated to defense and strategic studies, an arms-centric reductionism prevails that tends to limit debates on these issues to the possession of weapons.
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