War and Power: Who Wins Wars — and Why
Aug 2025 · Random House
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'Phillips O'Brien is one of the keenest observers of modern strategy, and his new book takes a deep historical look at the evolution of warfare and its implications for conflicts like the ongoing one in Ukraine' Francis Fukuyama
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War and power are two of the most-widely discussed issues in all of human history, and yet they are, time and again, misunderstood — often disastrously so.
Whilst we might think the outcome of war is determined by so-called ‘Great Powers’ who dominate their opponents with their impressive size and military prowess, the reality of modern conflict, as renowned strategic historian Professor Phillips Payson O’Brien demonstrates, is very different. He urges us instead to look for ‘Full Spectrum Powers’.
For if we are considering how powerful a nation is and who will win a war, we need to think less about weapons, and more about the economies and societies that produce them; less about individual battles, and more about sustaining campaigns and alliances in which states operate.
Using fascinating examples from the late 19th century to the present day, War and Power explains how misunderstanding war and power has led to terrible, even preventable conflicts – such as the war in Ukraine – and how more accurate analysis can help us consider the potential conflict between the US and China.
War and Power provides a bold new way of understanding the dangerous world around us.
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'Phillips O'Brien is always fantastic. Heterodox. He's pretty scathing, even about Biden administration policy . . . A really interesting book' Paul Krugman, Distinguished Professor of Economics
'As Phillips O'Brien points out in this important book, the character of war evolves, but some of the underlying truths, particularly from the second World War, are still very much with us.' Eliot Cohen, Professor Emeritus at Johns Hopkins SAIS
--------------------
War and power are two of the most-widely discussed issues in all of human history, and yet they are, time and again, misunderstood — often disastrously so.
Whilst we might think the outcome of war is determined by so-called ‘Great Powers’ who dominate their opponents with their impressive size and military prowess, the reality of modern conflict, as renowned strategic historian Professor Phillips Payson O’Brien demonstrates, is very different. He urges us instead to look for ‘Full Spectrum Powers’.
For if we are considering how powerful a nation is and who will win a war, we need to think less about weapons, and more about the economies and societies that produce them; less about individual battles, and more about sustaining campaigns and alliances in which states operate.
Using fascinating examples from the late 19th century to the present day, War and Power explains how misunderstanding war and power has led to terrible, even preventable conflicts – such as the war in Ukraine – and how more accurate analysis can help us consider the potential conflict between the US and China.
War and Power provides a bold new way of understanding the dangerous world around us.
--------------------
'Phillips O'Brien is always fantastic. Heterodox. He's pretty scathing, even about Biden administration policy . . . A really interesting book' Paul Krugman, Distinguished Professor of Economics
'As Phillips O'Brien points out in this important book, the character of war evolves, but some of the underlying truths, particularly from the second World War, are still very much with us.' Eliot Cohen, Professor Emeritus at Johns Hopkins SAIS
Ratings and reviews
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About the author
Phillips Payson O’Brien is Professor of Strategic Studies at St Andrews. He is the author of How the War Was Won: Air-Sea Power and Allied Victory in World War II and The Second Most Powerful Man in the World: The Life of Admiral William D. Leahy, Roosevelt's Chief of Staff. He has written for The Atlantic, The Spectator and Foreign Affairs, and has a combined following of over 200k on Twitter and Substack. This is his first trade book.
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