Ends, Means, Ideology, And Pride

Dr. Jeffrey Record, a professor emeritus of strategy at the Air War College in Montgomery, Alabama, examines the causes of the Axis defeat in World War II and postulates still relevant lessons that we can learn from that defeat. Record contends that the Axis was beaten by a combination of resource inferiority (after 1941) and strategic incompetence-for example, the pursuit of territorial ambitions far beyond the limits of Axis strength. World War II's lessons for the future include the enduring importance of material strength even in an age of irregular warfare; the pernicious effects of extreme ideology on sound strategic judgment; and the limits of operational and tactical superiority in delivering strategic success. Dr. Record completely dispels the notion that the Second World War has no pertinence to navigating through the strategic challenges of the present era.