Edward Luttwak
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Edward Nicolae Luttwak (born 4 November 1942) is an American author known for his works on
grand strategy Grand strategy or high strategy is a state's strategy of how means can be used to advance and achieve national interests. Issues of grand strategy typically include the choice of primary versus secondary theaters in war, distribution of resource ...
,
military strategy Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. Derived from the Greek word '' strategos'', the term strategy, when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow s ...
,
geoeconomics Geoeconomics (sometimes geo-economics) is the study of the spatial, temporal, and political aspects of economies and resources. Although there is no widely accepted singular definition, the distinction of geoeconomics separately from geopolitics ...
,
military history Military history is the study of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships. Professional historians norma ...
, and
international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...
. He is best known for being the author of '' Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook''. His book ''Strategy: The Logic of War and Peace'', also published in Chinese, Russian and nine other languages, is widely used at war colleges around the world.


Early life

Luttwak was born into a Jewish family in Arad, Romania, and raised in Italy and England.


Career

After attending a boarding school in Berkshire, where he joined the British Army cadet corps, Luttwak moved to London at the age of 16 and went to a grammar school (which in England is an academically selective school for students aged from 11 to 18). He then studied analytical economics at the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...
. In 1968, when he was 26 and working in London as a consultant for the
oil industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...
, he published the book '' Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook'', a
pastiche A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...
of a military manual. The book explains in detail how to overthrow the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
of a
state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
, looking in particular at coups d'état on the African continent and in the Middle East. The
spy fiction Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelligen ...
author
John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...
praised the book and compared Luttwak to Machiavelli. Luttwak graduated from the London School of Economics in 1969. Luttwak was a war volunteer in
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in 1967 and later worked for the
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
. In 1972 he moved to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
for graduate studies at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He graduated with a PhD in International Relations in 1975. The title of his dissertation was ''Force and Diplomacy in Roman Strategies of Imperial Security''. Earlier, during a two-month visit to Washington, D.C. in 1969, Luttwak and
Richard Perle Richard Norman Perle (born September 16, 1941) is an American political advisor who served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs under President Ronald Reagan. He began his political career as a senior staff member to S ...
, his former roommate in London, joined a
thinktank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental o ...
, the
Committee to Maintain a Prudent Defence Policy A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
, assembled by
Dean Acheson Dean Gooderham Acheson (pronounced ; April 11, 1893October 12, 1971) was an American statesman and lawyer. As the 51st U.S. Secretary of State, he set the foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration from 1949 to 1953. He was also Truman ...
and
Paul Nitze Paul Henry Nitze (January 16, 1907 – October 19, 2004) was an American politician who served as United States Deputy Secretary of Defense, U.S. Secretary of the Navy, and Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. State Department. He is best k ...
to lobby Congress for
anti-ballistic missile An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to counter ballistic missiles (missile defense). Ballistic missiles are used to deliver nuclear weapon, nuclear, Chemical weapon, chemical, Bioagent, biological, or conventiona ...
systems. In late 1974 and into 1975 a series of articles was published by
neoconservative Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and coun ...
intellectuals discussing whether the
US military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six Military branch, service branches: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States N ...
should seize the oilfields in Saudi Arabia. In March 1975, ''
Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...
'' published an article that Luttwak had written under the
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
"Miles Ignotus" with the title "Seizing Arab Oil". Luttwak had previously published the gist of his argument on how to break Arab power under the title "Obsolescent Elites", using his real name, in ''
The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication i ...
''. He suggested that
U.S. Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary warfare, exped ...
, assisted by the
82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...
, should storm the eastern beaches of Saudi Arabia. The article and the author attracted considerable attention, but there is no evidence that the
Ford administration Gerald Ford's tenure as the 38th president of the United States began on August 9, 1974, upon the resignation of Richard Nixon from office, and ended on January 20, 1977, a period of days. Ford, a Republican from Michigan, had served as vice ...
ever considered such an intervention. James Atkins, then U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, publicly denounced the "invasion scenario" as a product of "sick minds". In 2004 Luttwak told the ''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' that he had written the article "after discussion with several like-minded consultants and officials in the Pentagon". In 1976 Luttwak published ''The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire from the First Century AD to the Third'', which generated controversy among professional historians who saw Luttwak as an outsider and a non-specialist in the field. However, the book is recognized as seminal because it raised basic questions about the
Roman Army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval contin ...
and its defense of the Roman frontier. Later he started researching the Byzantine empire, beginning with its earliest surviving texts. According to
Harry Sidebottom Harry Sidebottom is a British author and historian, best known for his two series of historical novels the ''Warrior of Rome'', and ''Throne of the Caesars''. He is Quondam Fellow and Tutor in Ancient History at St. Benet's Hall, Oxford, and l ...
, the majority of scholars were hostile to Luttwak's enthusiasm for fighting wars on
client state A client state, in international relations, is a state that is economically, politically, and/or militarily subordinate to another more powerful state (called the "controlling state"). A client state may variously be described as satellite state, ...
territory and the book made uncomfortable reading in some circles in
western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
because in the 1980s Luttwak became a security consultant to U.S. President
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
. In 1987 Luttwak published ''Strategy: The Logic of War and Peace''. According to Luttwak's publisher,
Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...
, the book has been widely acclaimed. Luttwak became known for his innovative ideas. He suggested, for example, that attempts by major powers to quell regional wars actually make conflicts more protracted. Luttwak went on to provide consulting services to
multinational corporations A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...
and government agencies, including various branches of the U.S. government and the U.S. military. Luttwak has served on the editorial boards of ''Géopolitique'' (France), the ''
Journal of Strategic Studies The ''Journal of Strategic Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering military and diplomatic strategic studies. It was established in 1978 by Frank Cass & Co. with John Gooch (University of Leeds) as founding editor-in-chief. The c ...
'', '' The European Journal of International Affairs'', and the ''
Washington Quarterly ''The Washington Quarterly'' (abbreviated as ''TWQ'') is a magazine of international affairs covering topics and issues concerning global security, diplomatic relations, and policy implications. Founded by prestigious think tank, Center for Strateg ...
''. He speaks English, French,
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, Italian,and Spanish, in addition to his native Romanian. In 1997, with three partners, he purchased 19,000 hectares of land in the Bolivian Amazon, where he set up a
cattle ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...
. Luttwak was a lecturer in economics at the
University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...
from 1964 to 1966. In 2004 Luttwak was awarded an
honorary doctorate degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
(LLD) from the
University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...
. He has also received honorary degrees from a university in
Arad, Romania Arad (; German and Hungarian: ''Arad,'' ) is the capital city of Arad County, Transylvania. It is the third largest city in Western Romania, behind Timișoara and Oradea, and the 12th largest in Romania, with a population of 159,704. A busy tr ...
and the
University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...
. His book ''The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire'' was published in late 2009.
Leon Wieseltier Leon Wieseltier (; born June 14, 1952) is an American critic and magazine editor. From 1983 to 2014, he was the literary editor of ''The New Republic''. He was a contributing editor and critic at ''The Atlantic'' until October 27, 2017, when the ...
, who got to know Luttwak during the Reagan years, wrote: "Edward was this figure out of a Werner Herzog film. He was not some person who had read a bit of Tacitus and now worked at the Pentagon. He knew all the languages, the geographies, the cultures, the histories. He is the most bizarre humanist I have ever met."


Predictions

Before the first
Persian Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
Luttwak incorrectly predicted that Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
would evacuate Kuwait "after a week or two of bombing he bombing continued for six weeks without inducing him to do soand warned that the use of ground forces without heavy preliminary bombing 'could make
Desert Storm The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
a bloody, grinding combat with thousands of (US) casualties.'" Writing a month into the bombing, Luttwak still opposed a ground campaign. He forecast that it would lead inevitably to a military occupation of Iraq from which the United States would be unable to disengage without disastrous foreign policy consequences. In the 1999 book ''Turbo-Capitalism: Winners and Losers in the Global Economy'' Luttwak predicted that dynamic economic growth would increase ugly social phenomena such as
crime rate Crime statistics refer to systematic, quantitative results about crime, as opposed to crime news or anecdotes. Notably, crime statistics can be the result of two rather different processes: * scientific research, such as criminological studies, vi ...
s and
job insecurity Job security is the probability that an individual will keep their job; a job with a high level of security is such that a person with the job would have a small chance of losing it. Many factors threaten job security: globalization, outsourcing, ...
, as anticipated in his ''London Review of Books'' article "Why Fascism is the Wave of the Future". In 2009
Richard Posner Richard Allen Posner (; born January 11, 1939) is an American jurist and legal scholar who served as a federal appellate judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1981 to 2017. A senior lecturer at the University of Chica ...
analyzed intellectuals with a
public profile Notability is the property of being worthy of notice, having fame, or being considered to be of a high degree of interest, significance, or distinction. It also refers to the capacity to be such. Persons who are notable due to public responsibi ...
in the U.S. Posner claimed that Luttwak sees many affinities between the United States and the declining
Roman empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
, leading Luttwak to predict a dark age in which the U.S. population will experience decline into
third world The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...
status. According to Posner, Luttwak retained his economic pessimism when the
economy of the United States The United States is a highly developed mixed-market economy and has the world's largest nominal GDP and net wealth. It has the second-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) behind China. It has the world's seventh-highest per capita GD ...
stood at the turn of the century. In 2015, Luttwak predicted that the Middle East will be embroiled in
internecine war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...
for the next thousand years, thanks to the "brilliant stroke" of strategic genius, far exceeding even Bismarck's abilities, exemplified by
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
when he ignited a
religious war A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...
between
Sunnis Sunni Islam () is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia ...
and
Shiites Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...
. Luttwak predicted in a 2016 op-ed in ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' that the
Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...
would pursue a foreign policy "unlikely to deviate from standard conservative norms", withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, avoiding involvement in Syria and Libya, eschewing trade wars, and modestly reducing spending — in short, "changes at the margin". In reality, Trump ordered dropping the " mother of all bombs" but left the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan for his successor to shoulder; kindled trade wars with the EU by imposing punitive tariffs, and rather than reducing military spending, Trump bloated the budget to unprecedented deficit levels.


On grand strategy

Luttwak has long insisted on the necessity of a
grand strategy Grand strategy or high strategy is a state's strategy of how means can be used to advance and achieve national interests. Issues of grand strategy typically include the choice of primary versus secondary theaters in war, distribution of resource ...
, but he moved beyond preoccupation with military intervention, and started to theorize
diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...
and
military alliance A military alliance is a formal Alliance, agreement between nations concerning national security. Nations in a military alliance agree to active participation and contribution to the defense of others in the alliance in the event of a crisis. ...
s. His ''Grand Strategy of the Soviet Union'' (1983) was the first English-language text that recognized the different nationalities that were re-emerging in the USSR and were ignored by both "Kremlinologists" and U.S. intelligence. Luttwak concluded that the Soviet Union relied entirely on military instruments for its grand strategy. Luttwak argued that
Carl von Clausewitz Carl Philipp Gottfried (or Gottlieb) von Clausewitz (; 1 June 1780 – 16 November 1831) was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the "moral", in modern terms meaning psychological, and political aspects of waging war. His mos ...
's warning against aggressive wars was no longer relevant in the post-World War II era. He reasoned that when confronted with
weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natura ...
, statecraft needed a grand strategy, that is, "the firm subordination of tactical priorities, material ideals, and warlike instincts to political goals". For Luttwak, grand strategy was no longer a
military doctrine Military doctrine is the expression of how military forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements. It is a guide to action, rather than being hard and fast rules. Doctrine provides a common frame of reference across ...
, but a political issue, and diplomacy was needed to achieve the security of the
state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
. Writing in 2007 for the ''
National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief i ...
'', former
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
's speechwriter
David Frum David Jeffrey Frum (; born June 30, 1960) is a Canadian-American political commentator and a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, who is currently a senior editor at ''The Atlantic'' as well as an MSNBC contributor. In 2003, Frum au ...
said of Luttwak: "His book on the grand strategy of the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
was terrific, and his ''Coup d'État'' is that astounding thing: a great work of political science that is also a hilarious satire.


Personal life

Luttwak describes himself as a "fanatical snorkeler" and exercises every day. He lives with his wife in Maryland. He has a son.


Works

Several books among those listed below have been translated into such languages as Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (and Brazilian Portuguese), Romanian, Russian, Spanish (in Spain, Argentina and Venezuela), Swedish, and Turkish.


Books

* '' Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook'' (London, Allen Lane, 1968; Revised Edition: Cambridge, MA, 1979; London, 1979; Sydney, 1979) * ''A Dictionary of Modern War'' (London, Allen Lane, 1971; revised edition in 1991 with Stuart L. Koehl; new edition in 1998) * ''The Strategic Balance, 1972'' (New York, Library Press, 1972) * ''The Political Uses of Sea Power'' (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1974) * ''The US–USSR Nuclear Weapons Balance'' (Beverly Hills, Sage Publications, 1974) * ''The Israeli Army: 1948-1973'' (with Daniel Horowitz) (New York, HarperCollins and London, Allen Lane, 1975) *
The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire from the First Century AD to the Third
' (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976) * ''Strategic Power: Military Capabilities and Political Utility'' (California, 1976) * ''Sea Power in the Mediterranean: Political Utility and Military Constraints'' (California, 1979) * ''Strategy and Politics: Collected Essays'' (New Brunswick, Transaction Publishers, 1980), *
The Grand Strategy of the Soviet Union
' (New York, St. Martin's Press, 1983) * ''The Pentagon and the Art of War: The Question of Military Reform'' (New York, Simon & Schuster, 1985) * ''Strategy and History: Collected Essays, Volume Two'' (New Brunswick, Transaction Publishers, 1985) * ''On the Meaning of Victory: Essays on Strategy'' (New York, Simon & Schuster, 1986), * ''Strategy: The Logic of War and Peace'' (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1987) *
The Endangered American Dream: How To Stop the United States from Being a Third World Country and How To Win the Geo-Economic Struggle for Industrial Supremacy
' (New York, Simon & Schuster, 1993) *
Turbo-Capitalism: Winners and Losers in the Global Economy
' (London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1998), * ''Strategy: The Logic of War and Peace, Revised and Enlarged Edition'' (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2002) * ''The Middle of Nowhere: Why the Middle East Is Not Important'' (London, Atlantic Books, 2008) * ''The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire'' (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2009) * ''The Virtual American Empire: War, Faith, And Power'' (New Brunswick and London, Transaction Publishers, 2009) * ''The Rise of China vs. the Logic of Strategy'' (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2012) In Japanese only: * "China 4.0" (Tokyo, 2016) * "Japan 4.0" (Tokyo, 2018) * "Japan 4.0" in Mongolian only (Cyrillic) (Ulaan Baatar, 2019) * ejuvenating Japan: A National Strategy(Tokyo: Asuka Shinsha, 2019) o-authored with Dr. Okuyama Masashi In Italian only: * (What really is democracy) with Susanna Creperio Verratti (Milan, Arnoldo Mondadori, 1995) * (The ghost of poverty: a new policy to defend the wellbeing of citizens) with
Carlo Pelanda Carlo A. Pelanda (born April 17, 1951 in Tolmezzo, Italy) is an Italian professor of Political Science and Economics. Biography Pelanda received a Doctorate in Political Science from the University of Trieste where he specialized in Strategic Stu ...
and
Giulio Tremonti Giulio Tremonti () (born 18 August 1947) is an Italian politician. He served in the government of Italy as Minister of Economy and Finance under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from 1994 to 1995, from 2001 to 2004, from 2005 to 2006, and from 20 ...
(Milan, Arnoldo Mondadori, 1995) * (Where is Italy going? Interview with Edward Luttwak) with Gianni Perrelli (Newton Compton, 1997) * (The book of liberties. The citizen and the state: rules, rights and duties in a democracy) with Susanna Creperio Verratti (Arnoldo Mondadori, 2000) * (The new leaders. Winning in the 21st century) with Arduino Paniccia (Padua, Marsilio, 2000) As contributor: * ''Vietnam: Four American Perspectives'' edited by Patrick J. Hearden with ''The Impact of Vietnam on Strategic Thinking in the United States'' (Purdue University Press, 1990) * ''The Tanner Lectures on Human Values, 1991'' edited by Grethe B. Peterson with ''Strategy: A New Era?'' (University of Utah, 1991) * ''Feeding Mars: Logistics in Western Warfare from the Middle Ages to the Present'' edited by
John A. Lynn John Albert Lynn (born March 18, 1943) is a military historian who has written on a wide variety of topics in his field, with an emphasis on early modern Europe. Early life and education Born in Glenview, Illinois, in 1943, he received his Bac ...
with ''Logistics and the Aristocratic Idea of War'' (Boulder, Westview Press, 1994) * ''Voluntary Simplicity: Responding to Consumer Culture'' edited by Daniel Doherty and
Amitai Etzioni Amitai Etzioni (; Werner Falk; born 4 January 1929) is a German-born Israeli-American sociologist, best known for his work on socioeconomics and communitarianism. He founded the Communitarian Network, a non-profit, non-partisan organization ...
with ''Consuming For Love'' (Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2003) Preface, foreword: * ''The Parameters Of War: Military History from the Journal of the U.S. Army War College'' edited by Lloyd J. Matthews and Dale E. Brown (Washington, Pergamon-Brassey's, 1987) * ''Strategic Air Power in Desert Storm'' by John Andreas Olsen (London, Routledge, 2003) * ''Free Trade Doesn't Work'' by Ian Fletcher (U.S. Business & Industry Council, 2010; revised edition in 2011) * ''La Repubblica dei mandarini. Viaggio nell'Italia della burocrazia, delle tasse e delle leggi inutili'' (The Republic of mandarins. Travel in the Italy of bureaucracy, taxes and unnecessary laws) by Paolo Bracalini (Padua, Marsilio, 2014)


Selected book reviews

Luttwak has written book reviews for publications such as ''
The American Spectator ''The American Spectator'' is a conservative American magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. It was founded in 1967 by Tyrrell, who remains its editor-i ...
'', ''
Commentary Magazine ''Commentary'' is a monthly American magazine on religion, Judaism, and politics, as well as social and cultural issues. Founded by the American Jewish Committee in 1945 under Elliot E. Cohen, editor from 1945 to 1959, ''Commentary'' magazine dev ...
'', ''
London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of ...
'', ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...
'', and ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. * * * * *


Selected articles

* * * *
"Why China Will Not Become the Next Global Power… But It Could”
''Infinity Journal'', Fall 2011


References


Further reading


"The Inveterate Strategist: An Interview with Edward Luttwak"
by Richard Yarrow & Max Kuhelj Bugaric, ''
Harvard International Review The ''Harvard International Review'' is a quarterly international relations journal published by the Harvard International Relations Council at Harvard University. The ''HIR'' offers commentary on global developments in politics, economics, busin ...
'', Fall 2019.
"The Defense Intellectual: Edward N. Luttwak"
by
Andrew Cockburn Andrew Myles Cockburn ( ; born 7 January 1947) is a British journalist and the Washington, D.C., editor of '' Harper's Magazine''. Early life Born in the London suburb of Willesden in 1947, Cockburn grew up in County Cork, Ireland. His father ...
, a profile in '' Grand Street'', Spring 1987.


External links


Interview about Libya
from th
Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives
October 10, 1981.
Interview about Soviet Union
from th
Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives
December 15, 1983. * , originally published in
Lingua Franca (magazine) ''Lingua Franca'' was an American magazine about intellectual and literary life in academia. Founding The magazine was founded in 1990 by Jeffrey Kittay, an editor and professor of French literature at Yale University. Kittay, as the ''New York T ...
, an analysis containing several pages on Luttwak's life and thought, January 23, 2001. * Interviews ''Conversations with History'' with
Harry Kreisler Harry Kreisler () is an American historian who was formerly executive director of the Institute of International Studies at University of California, Berkeley. He is best known as the creator and host of the television program Conversations with H ...
: *
The Role of Strategy in International Politics
March 9, 1987. *

November 4, 2007. *
The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire
December 7, 2009. *
The Rise of China Versus the Logic of Strategy
January 2, 2013. *
Luttwak's articles
for the ''London Review of Books''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Luttwak, Edward 1942 births Living people Academics of the University of Bath Alumni of the London School of Economics American essayists American people of Romanian-Jewish descent American military writers Johns Hopkins University alumni American military historians People from Arad, Romania Military strategists Jewish American writers American male essayists The Washington Institute for Near East Policy Romanian emigrants to the United States Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs 21st-century American Jews