The Strategic Corporal revisited: Challenges facing combatants in 21st‑century warfare

As we enter an era of multidimensional warfare, and technological innovations continue to accelerate the pace of war, the importance of decisions made by junior military leaders — some of them with strategic impact – continues to grow exponentially. US Marine Corps General Charles C. Krulak coined the term ‘The Strategic Corporal’ nearly two decades ago, and it is more relevant today than ever.

This book is the first scholarly analysis of the challenges facing Strategic Corporals – and those who seek to prepare and equip them – in the 21st century. The topics addressed include leadership and education, military culture, peacekeeping, counterinsurgency, cyber warfare, and private military contractors and NGOs in the contemporary battlespace. Also included is a historian’s reflection on General Krulak’s development of the ‘Strategic Corporal’ concept, and a practitioner’s response to the scholarly arguments contained in the book. This book will be of interest to scholars of contemporary security and armed conflict as well as practitioners who are, or serve alongside, today’s Strategic Corporals.