Leading the war: interviews on the art of operations

In their book Leading the war: interviews on the art of operationsIn this interview, Benoist Bihan and Jean Lopez explore the relationship between war and strategy. Choosing to debate the concept of the 'operative art', they invite us to delve deep into the history of military thought. While they invite us to understand the originality of Soviet thinking by illustrating it with concrete examples from the Red Army in the 1930s and 1940s, the authors help us to grasp the role of politics at this level of operations, by creating a clear distinction between tactics ("how to win a battle") and strategy ("how to win the war"). At a time of conflict in Ukraine and high intensity, what is the value of this concept of "operative art", and have we really understood it?

A historian and strategist, Benoist Bihan is editorial adviser to Wars & History. A researcher in strategic studies, he is editor-in-chief of the magazine SPACE International, director of research at the Observatoire sur les stratégies spatiales (CAPRI, France) and a regular contributor to the French and European armed forces.

Managing editor of Wars & HistoryJean Lopez is the author of a number of books, notably on the Second World War.