FOREWORD
by Stansfield Turner
It is gratifying to see the stimulus which the faculty of the Naval War College is continuing to provide to both the College and the Navy as a whole. In this instance, it is Professor Jeffrey Norwitz of that faculty who has prodded both institutions to think about how warfare has migrated from being between states to being between states and armed groups. Understanding how to deal with this growing dimension of warfare is critically important today. Jeffrey Norwitz has helped us to do that by bringing together a diverse, eclectic group of thinkers on contemporary war.
It is also gratifying to see the continuing support of the Naval War College Foundation for such projects. The Foundation has played, and does play, an important role in encouraging original thinking on naval matters. As President of the College some years ago, I found the Foundation’s support invaluable for projects that were too exploratory to qualify readily for governmental funding. Yet exploring frontiers is essential in any profession.
Armed groups are challenging us on many fronts today. In dealing with them, though, we must not become so narrowly focused as to lose sight of our democratic principles and morals. We must not stoop to the tactics of opponents in combating them. For instance, it is tempting to invade the privacy of our citizens with surveillance in the name of detecting terrorists. If this is done other than under legal procedures and strict controls, we will lose our cherished right to individual privacy. We will have won only a Pyrrhic victory. This has to be a concern deserving the attention of both our civilian and military leaders.
Thinkers about naval matters must be able to step back from the pressures of day-to-day decision-making. They must place what the Navy should be doing now in the larger context of what the Navy must be able to do and sustain over the long run. That means not making compromises to meet deadlines or to please superiors at the expense of ethical principles.
Since at least Mahan’s day, it has been one role of the Naval War College to make up for that by being on the cutting edge of naval strategy and tactics, free from more pressing, immediate concerns. Mahan’s impact on our Navy was enormous. Jeffrey Norwitz’s voice and the voices of his contributors deserve to be listened to carefully today.
Admiral Stansfield Turner, U.S. Navy (retired)
Director of Central Intelligence (1977–1981)