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The Art of Military Innovation: Lessons from the Israel Defense Forces Hardcover – October 10, 2023

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 51 ratings

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A world-leading military strategist and an IDF insider explain the improbable success of the Israeli armed forces.

When the Israel Defense Forces was established in May 1948, it was small, poorly equipped, and already at war. Lacking sufficient weaponry or the domestic industrial base to produce it, the newborn military was forced to make do with whatever it could get its hands on. That spirit of improvisation carried the IDF to a decisive victory in the First Arab-Israeli War.

Today the same spirit has made the IDF the most powerful military in the Middle East and among the most capable in the world. In
The Art of Military Innovation, Edward N. Luttwak and Eitan Shamir trace the roots of this astounding success. What sets the IDF apart, they argue, is its singular organizational structure. From its inception, it has been the world’s only one-service military, encompassing air, naval, and land forces in a single institutional body. This unique structure, coupled with a young officer corps, allows for initiative from below. The result is a nimble organization inclined toward change rather than beholden to tradition.

The IDF has fostered some of the most significant advances in military technology of the past seventy years, from the first wartime use of drones to the famed Iron Dome missile defense system, and now the first laser weapon, Iron Beam. Less-heralded innovations in training, logistics, and human resources have been equally important. Sharing rich insights and compelling stories, Luttwak and Shamir reveal just what makes the IDF so agile and effective.

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From the Publisher

Quote from Aviv Kochavi

Quote from Douglas Macgregor

Quote from Martin van Creveld

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Rich with rare detail, much of it a result of the authors’ access to the IDF’s inner sanctums and their intimate knowledge of grand strategy and military history.”Tunku Varadarajan, Wall Street Journal

“An incisive, original study of military innovation as it has developed over more than half a century at one of the world’s most redoubtable armed forces, the Israel Defense Forces. Bursting with pertinent information, it is also a pleasure to read. It would be hard to find authors more highly qualified than Luttwak and Shamir to write this book, which should appeal to anyone interested in the modern military.”
Martin van Creveld, author of The Transformation of War

“Until now, no one has adequately explained why the Israel Defense Forces has had such a unique legacy of innovation. Luttwak and Shamir do so in a way that illuminates not only the IDF but also the broader challenges of creativity in war.”
Eliot A. Cohen, author of The Big Stick

“Brilliantly reveals the secret to the success of the Israeli military: its capacity for innovation. Luttwak and Shamir, two distinguished historians who know the Israel Defense Forces inside and out, show how the receptiveness to invention and the courage to change course even in the heat of battle have made the IDF one of the world’s most effective armies. Every serving officer in the armed forces of NATO should read this indispensable work.”
Col. Douglas Macgregor, US Army, Ret., author of Margin of Victory

“An important book for anyone interested in understanding how organizations innovate and improve. The saying ‘change or die’ is true for organizations in general, but in the case of the IDF, it is true in the most literal sense. Many armies throughout history have shown a great capacity for change when necessary, but Luttwak and Shamir show that for the Israeli military, innovation is a way of life.”
Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, Chief of General Staff, Israel Defense Forces, Ret.

“A compelling and important book. In wartime, armed forces must learn and apply what they learn in combat. In between wars, they must learn from the past and anticipate the future. The IDF is the perfect subject for drawing lessons important to developing military organizations that fight and win; Luttwak and Shamir are the perfect authors to illuminate those lessons.”
Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, US Army, Ret., author of Battlegrounds

About the Author

Edward N. Luttwak is the author of several books, including Coup d’État: A Practical Handbook; Strategy: The Logic of War and Peace; and The Rise of China vs. the Logic of Strategy, which have been published in twenty-five languages. His articles have appeared in the London Review of Books, the Times Literary Supplement, Foreign Affairs, and Tablet.

Eitan Shamir is Director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies and Associate Professor of Political Science at Bar Ilan University. He formerly served as Head of National Security Doctrine at the Israeli Office of Strategic Affairs. He is the author of
Transforming Command: The Pursuit of Mission Command in the U.S., British, and Israeli Armies.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvard University Press (October 10, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0674660056
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674660052
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.12 x 1 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 51 ratings

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Edward N. Luttwak
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Edward N. Luttwak b. Arad, Romania. Ed schools in Palermo, Sicily and in England; LSE (BSc) & Johns Hopkins PhD. Five languages. Serves or has served as a consultant to: the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Council, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force; he is/has been an adviser to Treaty Allies of the United States. He founded and directs a conservation cattle ranch in the Bolivian Amazon. He is the author of various

books and more articles including: The Rise of China viz the Logic of Strategy, Coup d'Etat: a practical handbook, Strategy: The Logic of War and Peace, The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire, The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire, The Endangered American Dream, and, Turbo-Capitalism: Winners and Losers in the Global Economy. His books are also published in: Arabic, Chinese (both Beijing simplified and Taipei traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian (Bahasa), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (and Brazilian Portuguese) Romanian, Russian, Spanish (Castilian, Spain, in Argentina and in Venezuela), Swedish, and Turkish. Before ever writing of strategy and war, he was combat-trained (Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and fought as a volunteer or a contractor in several countries on two continents. Likes Hebrew songs & the Greek & Latin classics. His best article is : "Homer Inc." in the LRB.

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4.4 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2024
    See above
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2024
    This book stands out for its unique and genuine perspective. Amid the many narratives about the IDF's combat operations, it uniquely addresses the development of its modern forces, an area often overlooked. The authors, with their deep familiarity with the IDF, pinpoint critical issues that lend strong support to their viewpoints. Impressively executed
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2024
    If you’re interested in not only how the IDF is structured and innovative; but, also how adaptive the IDF is in changing their tactics, techniques and procedures during ongoing combat operations, this is the book for you.
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2023
    This book is published by Harvard University Press, and that might tell you something about the tone of the book. It does have an academic whiff to it, but that scent is not too pronounced. The book is readable if not gripping, and the points made are made well. The book taught me a lot about how innovation can speed up when the pressure is high, as quite literally, the Israeli Defense Force has to innovate or die.

    One key topic in the book is the difference between macro-innovations and micro-innovations, and how they are generated differently. A macro-innovation the book's authors also call a "true innovation", as it brings something into existence that never existed before. It's going from zero to one, as Peter Thiel likes to say. A micro-innovation, on the other hand, is an improvement on something that already exists. Going from 1.1 to 1.2.

    Another way to look at it is that micro-innovations are steps, and macro-innovations are leaps. But that may be a little bit deceiving, since with innovation even making a lot of micro-innovations is rarely going to get you as far as a macro-innovation will. Just like repeatedly jumping up and down is not going to teach you how to fly.

    So macro-innovations are almost always more innovative than micro-innovations. Trouble is, while you can grind out micro-innovations by many iterations of trial and error, macro-innovations require creativity and inspiration that cannot be forced. So big, bureaucratic organizations tend to do best at micro-innovations, while small, agile organizations tend to do best at macro-innovations.

    This is top down versus bottom up. Optimization versus true innovation. In one case an organization can try lots of small changes to see which ones work best. (And that's not necessarily a bad thing -- some big improvements in profits can be made that way.) In the other case a lot of small organizations can each try a big change to see which ones work best work best. (And that's a great thing -- where industries can innovate at a feverish pace even as many companies fail.)

    That's the basic idea, and the Israeli Defense Force aids innovation by nurturing the bottom up approach. They don't issue edicts from the top down so much as let soldiers at all levels exercise their creativity so that the best ideas bubble up from the bottom. That puts power in the punch of a small military, and teaches lessons that militaries around the world can learn from.

    This book was written before the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack by Hamas fighters that caught the Israeli Defense Force by surprise. Hamas had its own clever innovations, like using bombs dropped from electric hang gliders on Israeli sentry posts, that allowed it to inflict its horrific blows. Lessons from that tragic war (and from the innovations by the Ukrainian army in their war against Russia) will be learned by those who want to be better prepared for the future.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2024
    Based solely on the Amazon precis it appears the entire thesis of this book was overthrown by the Hamas attack in October. Not so ready, not so capable.
    3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • CS
    5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book
    Reviewed in Spain on September 17, 2024
    A must-read about military innovation and continuous improvement, forced by persistent war and conflict. It shows how discipline is not a synonym of functionality. Great book.