Seeing the Forest From the Sky: Joint Airpower Through the Lens of Complex Systems Theory (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781286866573)

History describes humankind's struggle to adapt and compete in a dynamic world described by both linear and nonlinear interactions. Despite this, scientific approaches to understanding strategy and war have been described primarily in linear terms and concepts, making both accurate prediction of outcomes and the formulation of effective strategy difficult. Complex systems theories offer more precise conceptual models of the world we operate in, helping us to better identify and balance between multiple competing priorities, risks, and costs. Combined with military theory, complex systems theory can help bridge the gap between prescriptive and descriptive theories of war. These theories also offer Airmen the tools and concepts needed to better understand and explain the multidimensional aspects of airpower, improving their ability to provide the joint force the best tradeoffs between effective and efficient uses of airpower at various levels of scale.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.