Winfield Scott's 1847 Mexico City Campaign as a Model for Future War

摘要

Our fixation with conventional battle tends to undervalue the increasing potential of stability operations to decide the political outcomes of military campaigns and clouds our perceptions regarding both the purpose and utility of force. This article uses an abbreviated examination of Winfield Scott's Mexico City campaign to provide perspectives on both the evolving character of warfare and the preeminent challenge confronting America's contemporary operational planners-that is how to translate ascendancy on the conventional battlefield into achievable and enduring political success. While not dismissing the possibility of traditional, high-intensity, interstate warfare, this article argues that both the character and conduct of America's future conflicts will, in all likelihood, more closely resemble those of Scott's campaign than the black and white political and military paradigms of a bygone era where industrialized nation-states waged near-total wars of annihilation.