“The best form of defence is attack”: this cliché recognises the paradoxical nature of strategic logic. In war, what at first seems best often proves disappointing in the long-term. A deliberate weakening can lead to success, while a great victory in a battle can result in the loss of the war. Superior war materiel can be a handicap, while a numerical disadvantage can ultimately be advantageous.

The study of military history could have led Edward Luttwak to conclude that the experience of each conflict is unique. Instead, he became convinced that strategic logic consists of paradoxes, irony and contradictions. Besides, it seemed to him that it developed in two directions: in the horizontal confrontation between opposing forces, and through vertical interaction at various levels — technical, tactical, operational, etc. — in which a conflict unfolds. This book can be regarded as the mapping of the author's exploration.

An internationally recognised authority on strategic studies and geopolitics, Edward Luttwak is a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in Washington, D.C. He is the author of Turbo-Capitalisme, Coup d'Etat and The Endangered American Dream.

• Illustrated with a wealth of examples from classical and recent history, Strategy: The Logic of War and Peace reveals the universal logic that underpins war in all its forms as well as relations in peacetime between rival nations.