Overview

If you take an interest in military and national security affairs, you have probably read the works of Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, and Thucydides. But what about the books of the underappreciated military strategist Theodor Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss? Until Dr. Seuss & National Security, the military aspect of Ted Geisel’s biography and his books have been overlooked by scholars and critics alike. Yet Dr. Seuss books possess direct relevance to national security in part because Ted Geisel’s service in the the US Army during WWII made a lasting impact on his worldview. Numerous traces of Ted Geisel’s intense and dangerous wartime experiences can be found in his children’s books. Tucked in between bright and vivid drawings of imaginary animals and whimsical settings, the reader may sometimes encounter foreboding dark forests, ariel bombardment, ruthless authority figures, and other evocations of military life. Each of the chapters in this edited volume employs a Dr. Seuss book to illuminate a national security topic. For example, Oh, the Places You’ll Go helps us understand grand strategy in outer space, I Had Trouble Getting to Solla Sollew puts new light on Clausewitz’s concept of the fog of war, and Hunches in Bunches can be seen as a primer on military intelligence. By using beloved childhood stories to illuminate national security topics, this book offers an entertaining way to approach complex topics that can be understood by specialists and non-experts alike.

Full Product Details

Author:   Montgomery McFate ,  General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint:   Rowman & Littlefield
Dimensions:   Width: 15.10cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.503kg
ISBN:  

9781538193624

ISBN 10:   1538193620
Pages:   370
Publication Date:   15 August 2024
Recommended Age:   From 18 to 22 years
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

PART I. INTRODUCTION Chapter 1. Learning the Art of War from Dr. Seuss – Montgomery McFate Dr. Seuss in Military Art & Science Life in Uniform Hidden in Plain Sight Lessons from the Master Conclusion PART II. BOUNDING THE SUBJECT Chapter 2. I Had Trouble Getting to Solla Sollew and Grand Strategy – Antulio J. Echevarria II Troubles Psychological Resilience Misadventure Isolationism/Anti-Isolationism Military Leadership Friction End States Utility of Force In Conclusion Chapter 3. Oh, the Places You’ll Go & Grand Strategy in Outer Space – Saadia M. Pekkanen Grand Strategy Three Uncertainties Democratization Commercialization Militarization Bright Places with Boom Bands In Conclusion: the Great Balancing Act Chapter 4. Horton Hears a Who and International Human Rights Law – John Hursh The Making of Horton Listening The Encounter Do No Harm Tolerance Development Torture Collective Action Conclusion PART III. SPECIALIZED DOMAINS OF WARFARE Chapter 5. Thidwick the Big Hearted Moose and Environmental Security – Rebecca Pincus and Montgomery McFate Capacity and Collapse Short Term Interests, Long Term Consequences Common Pool Resource Dilemmas Social Norms and Vulnerability Nasty, Brutish, and Short Mass Extinction Deep Ecology In Conclusion: ‘All Stuffed, as They Should Be’ Chapter 6. Cat in the Hat and Cyber Warfare – Jon R. Lindsay and Michael Poznansky Unwitting Cooperation Unintended Consequences Staged Operations Leaving No Trace Offense-Defense Balance Deviance and Authority In Conclusion: Warnings to Ponder Chapter 7. Private Snafu and Political Propaganda – Kevin P. Eubanks Hollywood at War Propaganda and its Discontents Propaganda and Democracy Anti-Authoritarianism Individual Freedom Civil Society Chapter 8. Yertle the Turtle and Authoritarianism and Resistance – Katherine Blue Carroll Staying in Power Explaining Mass Protest Lone Dissidents (Explaining Mack) Conclusion: Plea for a Seussian Research Agenda Chapter 9. Hunches in Bunches: Intelligence and National Security Decision-Making – Genevieve Lester, John Nagl, and Montgomery McFate The Wrong Hunch The Happy Hunch Real Tough Homework Hunch The Better Hunch The Sour Hunch Very Odd Hunch The Unhelpful Hunch The Spookish Hunch The Nowhere Hunch Up Hunch The Down Hunch Wild Hunches in Big Bunches Super Hunch In Conclusion: Munch Hunch PART IV. THEORIES OF WARFARE Chapter 10. Horton and the Kwuggerbug and Deception - Chris C. Demchak The Kwuggerbug and the Deceptive False Flag State The Grinch Deceives the Hoobubs … Again Marco Comes Late and Spins a Tale…. Resilience in How Officer Pat Saved the Whole Town Conclusion: Deception is a Strategy that Pays Chapter 11. Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? and Luck in Warfare – Erich Henry Wagner and Montgomery McFate The Bunglebung Bridge and the Dangers of War Technology Zayt Highway Eight and the Dangers of Roads The Schlottz and the Wounds of War Hawtch-Hawtcher Bee-Watcher and Military Intelligence Poogle-Horn Players and the Danger of Broken Tools Harry Haddow’s Shadow: Changing One’s Luck The Brothers Ba-Zoo: Lucky Comrades in War That Forest in France: Luck and the Environment in Warfare The Seventeenth Radish: Luck and the Randomness of Survival In Conclusion: A Game of Cards Chapter 12. The Butter Battle Book and Deterrence and Escalation – Sam J. Tangredi Controversy and Reality Arms Race Tech Pace Escalation and Hesitation Rational or National Renegades and Provocateurs Deterrence and Non-Occurrence Punishment or Denial War Termination In Conclusion: Guns or Butter PART V. CONSEQUENCES OF WARFARE Chapter 13. How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Traumatic Stress – Montgomery McFate The Grinch as Allegory Wartime Trauma Diagnostic Criteria Progressive Worsening of the Disorder Physical Alterations Emotional Dysregulation Avoidance of Triggers Withdrawal and Isolation Reenactment of Trauma Resilience and Healing of the Grinch Social Connectedness Acceptance Trauma and Resilience of Who-Ville In Conclusion: Redemption in ‘War Stories’ Bibliography About the Authors

Reviews

Only Montgomery can take an obscure comparison like this...and make it intensely interesting. After reading the introduction, she captured my curiosity, and I could not set the book down. A stunningly brilliant analysis of Dr. Seuss and many of the most prolific writers and practitioners of warfare. Dr. Seuss and Dr. Montgomery McFate are both national treasures. A must read and bring your thinking cap. --Brigadier General Martin Schweitzer, US Army (ret.) Strategy can be fun as well as serious. Behind the fantastical rhymes of Dr. Seuss are insights into the human condition and what it takes to defend our values. Montgomery McFate and her distinguished team explore these insights, and in doing so, throw new light on some of the big issues of military theory and practice. --Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies, King's College London

Strategy can be fun as well as serious. Behind the fantastical rhymes of Dr. Seuss are insights into the human condition and what it takes to defend our values. Montgomery McFate and her distinguished team explore these insights, and in doing so, throw new light on some of the big issues of military theory and practice. --Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies, King's College London

Author Information

Montgomery McFate is a professor at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from Yale University and a JD from Harvard Law School. She is the author and/or editor of Considering Anthropology and Small Wars (Routledge 2020); Military Anthropology: Soldiers, Scholars and Subjects at the Margins of Empire (Oxford University Press 2018); Social Science Goes to War (Oxford University Press 2015), among others. Her articles have appeared in such journals as Defense and Security Analysis, Journal of Information Warfare, Journal of Small Wars & Insurgencies, and Joint Forces Quarterly. She was a key contributor to US Army Field Manual 3-24, Counterinsurgency and is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

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