30. What is Strategy?

On this show we’ve talked a lot about strategy – whether that’s national strategy, military strategy, or how air, space, and cyber power contribute to strategy. But we’ve not really addressed the issue of strategy itself, which is as complex as it is important. Today we’ll be tackling some of this complexity with Paul O’Neill (RUSI), who talks us through the different types of strategy that exist, the purpose of strategy, how strategy can be developed and implemented, and how all this relates to the conduct of war and the running of military organisations.

Paul has extensive experience in the world of strategy making. He retired from the RAF as an Air Commodore and was part of the team that wrote the SDSR in 2015. He also served as the Senior Advisor on strategy and policy to the Afghan Ministry of Interior. Paul is currently the Director of Military Sciences at the Royal United Services Institute.