The History of Strategy
| Module title | The History of Strategy |
|---|---|
| Module code | POLM026NDU |
| Academic year | 2026/7 |
| Credits | 30 |
| Module staff |
Module description
This module will provide an introduction to the most important writings on strategy from antiquity to the present. It is concerned with how academics and practitioners have come to conceptualise and understand strategy, both historically and theoretically. By introducing you to historical and contemporary concepts, key thinkers and their theories and frameworks of strategic behaviour, the module will explore how relevant actors have conceptualised and formulated strategy and how history has tended to judge the success or failure of those strategies on implementation. The module is designed to facilitate an understanding of the utility of core strategic concepts such as: the dimensions of strategy, the levels of strategy, decisiveness/victory, deterrence, containment, coercion, strategic culture, hard/soft power, the utility of force, law, annihilation v attrition. Historical topics will be used to illustrate strategic concepts and you will consider how strategy, as a prescriptive guide to action, is used in contemporary policymaking. By exploring these issues, you will come to understand and be able to analyse why strategic concepts possess enduring utility.?
Module aims - intentions of the module
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
| Credit value | 30 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 15 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 7 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |