In his book Limits of Air Power, Mark Clodfelter provides a detailed account of the use of air force by the USA throughout the twentieth century. The author argues that the strategic culture that existed in the first part of the 20th century proved to be successful for the country due to the specific geopolitical situation.
The author also claims that the strategic culture proved to be quite unsuccessful in the 1960-1970s and it cannot be effective in the contemporary world as the US government has different goals now and the geopolitical situation has changed.
Clodfelter (1989) provides a thorough analysis of the use of air force during the Second World War. The author examines the effectiveness of that kind of strategic culture and concludes that it was successful due to a number of reasons. In the first place, the major goal of the US military forces during World War II was to cause as much destruction to the enemy as possible.
Thus, devastation was one of the most potent tools that eventually made the enemy surrender as Germany, Italy as well as Japan exhausted their resources. The use of air force also contributed greatly to creating the necessary psychological effect on German and Japanese people.
Clodfelter (1989) notes that dropping of nuclear bombs on the two Japanese cities was quite crucial and this attack contributed to achievement of the major goals of the USA (i.e. to cause devastation). The author claims that the reliance on the air force was successful due to specific goals of the US government.
However, this strategic culture proved to be less effective during the Vietnam War. Clodfelter (1989) examines a number of factors that made the use of air force ineffective. The major reason was the changed geopolitical situation. The US President could not afford massive air force attacks as there was a risk of starting the Third World War. There were some limits to take into account and the use of air force was minimized.
Guerilla war was another factor that made the strategic culture of the USA ineffective in Korea. Clodfelter (1989) stresses that the use of air forces had no effect in Vietnam as massive destruction was unacceptable.
The author also notes that President Nixon managed to work out a successful strategy that was called an “honorable peace”, which made the use of air force limited though quite successful. Notably, Clodfelter (1989) stresses that it is rather difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategic culture used as there was a bundle of factors that contributed to the end of the war in Vietnam.
Finally, Clodfelter (1989) provides a brief analysis of the use of air force in the contemporary military conflicts. The author argues that the strategic culture that was effective in the first part of the twentieth century is inapplicable in the twenty-first century. The war in Iraq is an example to prove the author’s argument.
Escalation of the global conflict is unacceptable in the contemporary world even though there is no such super power as the USSR used to be. No country including the USA can cause major devastation to any other country as this will inevitably lead to a global conflict.
Of course, air forces are effective in certain military operations. However, reliance on this strategic culture in the contemporary world is hardly possible as it is rather ineffective.
Reference List
Clodfelter, M. (1989). Limits of air power. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.