Thinking about war and peace: Andrew Marshall and the early development of the intellectual foundations for net assessment

Abstract

This article discusses some of the background and early intellectual influences of Andrew Marshall and the development of the net assessment framework. In particular, it focuses on some of the intellectual foundations for net assessment, key characteristics, and how the style, vision, and ideas of Andrew Marshall have been and continue to be influential for performing net assessment. While focusing mostly on the intellectual/biographical aspects of Marshall’s ideas and thoughts, the topic demonstrates significant scholarly implications for current and future strategists, such as the significance of interdisciplinary research for strategic thinking (such as that conducted by the RAND Corporation in the 1950s and 1960s) and the importance of diagnosis in strategy.