Research Monograph

20 years of research, an MRES & PhD bought into a publication.

Research Monograph

This research monograph represents the culmination of more than twenty years of research into strategy, maritime power, defence organisation, and the institutions that shape strategic thinking. While rooted in doctoral research, it draws together a much broader programme of scholarship, exploring many of the themes introduced in the Research Guide. It seeks not only to contribute to historical understanding, but also to inform contemporary debates about strategy—from seabed to space—institutions, and national power.

Although my work encompasses strategic thought, applied history, defence organisation, maritime strategy, national strategy and emerging domains such as space, these subjects are not independent fields of enquiry. They are connected by a broader research programme concerned with one enduring question: how do societies develop, sustain and apply strategic judgement? This question lies at the centre of my work and provides the intellectual framework that connects my research, teaching and engagement with government and defence.

I begin from the premise that strategy is not simply the formulation of policy or the direction of military force. Strategy is an intellectual discipline. It is a way of thinking about uncertainty, competition and the relationship between political objectives and national power. Like any discipline, it requires study, debate, criticism and continual refinement. Strategic judgement is neither innate nor accidental. It is cultivated over time through education, historical understanding and institutional experience. My research therefore seeks to understand not only how strategy is practised, but how strategic thinkers are developed and how strategic knowledge is preserved across generations.

This perspective draws heavily upon the tradition established by Sir Julian Corbett, whose work demonstrated that strategy cannot be separated from history, politics or education. Corbett viewed history not as a catalogue of lessons to be mechanically applied, but as a means of developing judgement. Historical study encourages reflection, exposes complexity and develops the intellectual habits necessary for understanding new strategic challenges. That philosophy continues to shape my own approach. Rather than searching the past for simple analogies or prescriptive solutions, I use historical inquiry to examine enduring strategic problems, asking why institutions succeed or fail, how strategic ideas evolve, and what historical experience can contribute to contemporary decision-making.

Central to this research is the belief that strategic understanding resides not only within individuals but also within institutions. Governments, armed forces and professional organisations accumulate knowledge through experience, education and reflection. They become custodians of what might be described as corporate experience—a body of institutional knowledge that enables strategic thinking to mature over time. Without such institutions, societies risk repeatedly confronting familiar strategic problems without the benefit of accumulated understanding. My work therefore examines how institutions preserve, challenge and renew strategic knowledge, and how organisational structures influence the ability of states to think strategically.

Release Date / Publisher: Coming Soon / TBA.

© James W. E. Smith