Military science: laws and research methods

Military Thought, Oct-Dec, 2004 by S.A. Bogdanov

The fundamental objective of any science both in the past and at the current stage of the evolution of military thought is to study in depth the essence of processes under investigation and to ascertain the laws of their organization, functioning and development, taking into account the changes that have occurred in their content. In addition to streamlining its structure and content, (1) the military science at the current stage of its development also identifies typical dependencies in military phenomena and processes and establishes the possibilities and methods of using them in military practice. This should also be duly reflected in contemporary military-theoretical studies.

As is known, war is one of the most complex phenomena of human life while the objective laws of war and warfare, once established and presented in theoretical form, constitute the theoretical basis of the military science as its fundamental laws. Any law is defined as an essential, substantial, necessary and recurrent relationship characterizing the organization and functioning of particular phenomena as well as trends in their evolution and development.

Back in the 1970s, publications in the Military Thought journal, summarizing the experience of World War II, noted among other things that the laws of the military science cannot be treated as an arbitrary creation of the human mind that is isolated from war in general and warfare in particular. (2) The laws of the military science are an ideal, theoretical reflection of the laws of war, knowledge about these laws. The evolution of the military science shows that knowledge of war laws needs to be deepened and expanded. The objective laws of war and warfare per se cannot be improved or altered, but knowledge about them can and should be developed and deepened with the aim of adding new content to their description, reflecting objective reality.

This does not mean that the laws of war and therefore the law of the military science are immutable and invariable. They change along with the changes in the process itself--i.e., war in general and warfare in particular. By continuously analyzing war and warfare, their essence and content, the military science develops, acquiring new knowledge. By studying the laws of the military science, at the same time it studies the objective laws of war and warfare. The laws of war and warfare are divided into genetic laws and evolutionary laws. Let us now consider them in brief.

Genetic laws of war and warfare are laws pertaining to the genesis of wars and warfare and defining their essence, structure, sources, and causes as well as the area of their manifestation.

Evolutionary laws of war and warfare are laws pertaining to their course and outcome. Both types of laws are divided into large groups: laws of the first order, which determine the course and outcome of war as a whole, as confrontation between the sides (states, coalitions, and so on); laws of the second order are laws of warfare.

Laws of the first order are deduced from the essence of war and the inter-relation between the structural elements of the military capability of the warring sides. At the contemporary stage, laws of the first order, in the view of the present author, are comprised of five laws: the law of the interdependence of war and politics; the law of the dependence of the course and outcome of war on the correlation of economic factors in the warring sides; the law of the dependence of the course and outcome of war on the correlation of scientific-technological factors; the law of the dependence of the course and outcome of war on the correlation of social and moral-political factors; and the law of the dependence of the course and outcome of war on the correlation of military factors per se (the quality and quantity of combat hardware, armaments, military formations, and so on) of the belligerent sides.

These laws operate simultaneously while the ultimate success in a war is attained by the side that has an overall in the correlation of all factors and whose military-political leadership is in a position to tap its capabilities effectively.

The core of the laws of the second order is constituted by laws of warfare. Some of them characterize warfare in general as a two-pronged process while others disclose regularities and patterns in the actions of the belligerent sides.

Analysis of connections and dependencies of warfare as an aggregate phenomenon at the present stage can be used as a basis for formulating the following laws: the law of the dependence of the course and outcome of warfare on the correlation of forces on the battle field; the law of correspondence between the methods of warfare, on the one hand, and the quality and quantity of assets (arms and military equipment) used by the belligerent sides, on the other; the law of the dependency of methods of warfare on the character of the physical-geographic and natural-climatic conditions of the theater (region) of operations; and the law of the dependence of the course and outcome of warfare on the extent to which the opposing sides have tapped their military-political, military-economic, military-scientific, and moral-psychological capabilities.