Military Strategy, Technology, and the Remaking of Armed Forces

What it is about

You will consider how military strategy is to be understood as a political-economic problem, in particular how technological change alters the use, organization, and resource allocation of armed forces. In the end you will be able to strategically place technological changes, analyze their translation into doctrines and organizational structures, and evaluate critical counter-positions to the technological determinism of military change.

What you will be able to do

• Analyze military strategy as the use of force to achieve political goals
• Explain interpretations of technological change by strategists
• Evaluate competing claims about the strategic effects of technologies
• Apply arguments of central military theorists to historical and contemporary cases
• Critically assess technological determinism within the framework of political economy

What the module consists of

• SeminarLinks introductory lectures with active learning phases and case studies; foundation for presentations and discussions

Teaching method

• VorlesungsinputsConveying fundamental concepts, theories and approaches
• Active learning methods (think-pair-share, muddiest point, polls/quizzes)Foster discussion, deepening understanding and critical engagement with the literature
• Case studies and seminar presentationsApplication of strategic arguments to historical and current cases; promotion of communicative and argumentative skills