Decline of Operational Art: The Story of A Strategic China Wargame

The crucial military skill of operational art, which links broad strategy to specific battlefield tactics, is in a troubling state of decline. This weakness was starkly revealed in a confidential Department of Defense wargame simulating a 2034 conflict, where a U.S.-led force was decisively defeated by China. The loss stemmed not from technological inferiority, but from a fundamental failure by planners to identify the enemy's center of gravity and exploit its decisive points. This conceptual breakdown resulted in scattered efforts and strategic paralysis, a vulnerability that has developed as the military shifted focus away from large-scale warfare after the Cold War.