According to its original theorists, Shock and Awe renders an adversary unwilling to resist through overwhelming displays of power. Frequent comparisons are made by these theorists to the effect of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Shock and Awe is a military doctrine which advocates attempting to destroy an adversary's will to fight through spectacular displays of power. Its authors label it a subset of Rapid Dominance, a concept of defeating an adversary by swift action against all aspects of their ability to resist, rather than strictly military forces. It is a product of the National Defense University of the United States, and has been notably applied in this country's 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Doctrine of Rapid Dominance

Rapid Dominance is defined by its authors, Harlan K. Ullman and James P. Wade, as attempting "to affect the will, perception, and understanding of the adversary to fit or respond to our strategic policy ends through imposing a regime of Shock and Awe." Further, Rapid Dominance will "impose this overwhelming level of Shock and Awe against an adversary on an immediate or sufficiently timely basis to paralyze its will to carry on . . . [to] seize control of the environment and paralyze or so overload an adversary’s perceptions and understanding of events that the enemy would be incapable of resistance at the tactical and strategic levels."^{Shock And Awe: Achieving Rapid Dominance (National Defense University, 1996), XXIV.}

1. ^ Ullmann and Wade, Shock and Awe, XXV.
2. ^ Ullmann and Wade, Shock and Awe, Prologue.
3. ^ David J. Gibson, "Shock and Awe: A Sufficient Condition for Victory?" (United States Naval War College, 5 February 2001), 17.
4. ^ Ullmann and Wade, Shock and Awe, XII.
5. ^ Ullmann and Wade, Shock and Awe, 23.
6. ^ Field Manual 100-5 "Operations" (United States Army, 1982).
7. ^ Field Manual 1 "The Army" (United States Army, 14 June 2001), The Characteristics of Future Operations.
8. ^ Oliver Burkeman, "Shock tactics" (The Guardian, 25 March 2003).
9. ^ Gar Smith, "Shock and Awe: Guernica Revisited" (Alternet, 27 January 2003).
10. ^ Henry Michaels, "US plans 'shock and awe' blitzkrieg in Iraq" (World Socialist Web Site, 30 January 2003).
11. ^ "The Blitz Over Baghdad" (The New York Times, 22 March 2003).
12. ^ "Iraq Faces Massive U.S. Missile Barrage" (CBS News, 24 January 2003).
13. ^ Paul Sperry, "No shock, no awe: It never happened" (World Net Daily, 3 April 2003).
14. ^ "Operation Iraqi Freedom - By the Numbers" (USCENTAF , 30 April 2003), 15.
15. ^ William Branigin, "A Brief, Bitter War for Iraq's Military Officers" (Washington Post, 27 October 2003).
16. ^ "Iraq and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy" (Presentation by the United States Army War College to United States House Committee on Armed Services, 21 October 2003).
17. ^ Robert Longley, "Patent Office Suffers 'Shock and Awe' Attack" (About.com, 27 October 2003).

Further reading

• Blakesley, Paul J. "Shock and Awe: A Widely Misunderstood Effect". United States Army Command and General Staff College, 17 June 2004.
• Branigin, William. "A Brief, Bitter War for Iraq's Military Officers". Washington Post, 27 October 2003.
• Peterson, Scott. "US mulls air strategies in Iraq". Christian Science Monitor, 30 January 2003.
• Ullman, Harlan K. and Wade, James P. Shock And Awe: Achieving Rapid Dominance. National Defense University, 1996. PDF available here (4.4MBs).
• Ullman, Harlan K. and Wade, James P. Rapid Dominance: A Force for All Seasons. Royal United Services Institute in Defense Studies, 1998.

External links

• Shock and awe , from SourceWatch