The War for Ukraine, Mick Ryan
The War for Ukraine, Mick Ryan
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The War for Ukraine
Strategy and Adaptation Under Fire

Author: Mick Ryan

Narrator: Grant Cartwright

Unabridged: 11 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/19/2024


Synopsis

The Russo-Ukraine War is a vital learning opportunity for military strategists across the globe. The first and clearest lesson to be gleaned from it is this: the soundness of a military's strategy and the nimbleness with which it can adapt to unforeseen circumstances are the two most important factors in deciding victory or defeat. The War for Ukraine analyzes the war through these twin lenses of strategy and adaptation, detailing how each army has succeeded or failed to plan for and adapt to this twenty-first century war.

Author Mick Ryan examines the foundations of Ukrainian and Russian strategy for their ongoing war, looking back over several decades to reveal how both sides have evolved their military strategy and force structure. Each has undertaken institutional-level reforms of their military and national security enterprises in the decade leading up to this war. But because the emergent behavior of military forces after fighting begins cannot be fully predicted, these prewar reforms only constitute a starting point for adaptation during the war. Central to this discussion are the ways that, regardless of cutting-edge technology, human elements have remained a crucial deciding factor in Ukraine. Ryan shows how good leadership allows a nation to navigate the ambiguity and uncertainty of conflict, while poor leadership leaves it vulnerable to surprises.

About Mick Ryan

Mick Ryan is a strategist and retired major general from the Australian Army. A distinguished graduate of Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, as well as the USMC Command and Staff College, and USMC School of Advanced Warfare, he is a passionate advocate of professional education and lifelong learning. In a thirty-five-year military career, he commanded at multiple levels in the Australian Army and served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and East Timor. He is the author of War Transformed.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Timur Sattarov on December 04, 2024

It's okay. If you are as obsessed with the Russia-Ukraine war as I am, you probably won't find a lot of new information. However, it provides a good overview of approximately first two years of the war, focusing on the differences in the command structures of the primary participants and how these a......more

Goodreads review by Jeff on December 13, 2024

An excellent analysis of the first 18 months of the war in Ukraine. I've been looking for a good book on the history of this war for some time. I'm still looking. However, I came across Mr. Ryan's book. Rather than writing a history, Mr. Ryan takes a high-level view of the conflict and conducted a th......more

Goodreads review by Chris on August 30, 2024

A bit technical for lay reader. A good summation and critique of The assumptions, strategies, tactics and adaptations of both Russia and Ukraine from February 2022 through (at the time) ongoing summer 2023 Ukrainian offensive. I would have liked for it to have included recent events. I did appreciate......more

Goodreads review by Paul on March 07, 2025

A pretty sound analysis of how Ukrainian and Russian military and political strategies have adapted and fared in practice during the invasion. The story is incomplete of course, being published back in 2024, and many of the bedrock assumptions underpinning the analysis have now been thrown out the w......more

Goodreads review by Rick on February 02, 2025

Mick Ryan's book is an in-depth and well referenced study of how adaptation has been applied in the Russo-Ukraine war by both the Russians and Ukrainians. I gleaned many lessons from the book including leadership, cultural change, adapting to rapidly changing circumstances, and more. As a retired fi......more