Military Decision in War: A Framework for Research

Abstract

This article offers a theoretical framework for the study of military decision in war. It identified central schools of thought and their approaches to the subject, and evaluates the status of military decision in our time. It then defines the concept of decision, deals with the relative importance of psychological and material factors in decision, and raises the question of whether decision at the strategic level is something that can actually exist. It also characterizes the decision process, analyzes the elements that shape its nature, points at indicators for identifying decision and the stage which the decision process has reached, and presents the conditions for the attainment of decision and the strategies available for bringing about a decision.