The War for Ukraine

My new book exploring strategy and adaption during the Ukraine War is now available.

All wars are ultimately human endeavours. While machines and information are vital elements in human competition and war, it is humans who decide how these are used, where, when and in what organisational constructs that ultimately decide victory and defeat. And even if humans now might have their decisions informed and improved by big data and artificial intelligence, humans remain the heart and soul of every government and military system.

Yesterday my next book, The War for Ukraine: Strategy and Adaptation Under Fire, was released by the U.S. Naval Institute Press.

I am excited for everyone to be able to read this book. I have enjoyed researching and writing it. I will also be donating all my royalties from the book to Ukrainian charities and crowd funding efforts. So, if you purchase a copy, you will also be supporting the Ukrainian people and their efforts to defend their nation.

The War for Ukraine examines wartime strategy from the perspective of Ukraine and Russia. This includes their pre-February 2022 strategies which provided the foundation for their strategies in the past 30 months. My book also examines the strategies of the United States and NATO. These strategies from external supporters of Ukraine have an impact on Ukrainian and Russian strategy, and therefore must be understood in developing an appreciation of how strategy is developed, resourced, executed, adapted and led in the 21st century.

Adaptation is the other key topic in my book. The War for Ukraine examines the intellectual and organisational foundations for Ukrainian and Russian adaptation through the lens of their military transformation programs in the decade before February 2022. Building on this pre-war work, I then explore adaptation at the strategic, operational and tactical levels that has occured during the war.

The concept of the adaptation battle is one I have explored at length during the war in Ukraine, as well as before the war. I wrote about this topic in War Transformed, my book about 21st century conflict and competition, published by USNI Press in 2022.

The second part of The War for Ukraine covers the array of adaptations that have taken place in Ukraine, and offers recommendations for contemporary military institutions on the kinds of individual and institutional traits required to ensure that they too can be effective at multi-level adaptation in peace and war.

The book covers only part of the war - that between February 2022 and the NATO summit in Vilnius in 2023. I had to stop writing at some point and get the manuscript to the publisher, and this was the cut off point that I chose. Perhaps in the future I will look at a subsequent book to explore the war from this point onwards.

Some of the early reviews for the book are as follows:

In the aftermath of Russia's brutal, unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Mick Ryan quickly emerged as one of the war's essential analysts. Mick brings to bear his extensive command experience and historical understanding to explain the strategies employed by both Moscow and Kyiv, and how they have adapted these strategies. He draws out the lessons which military planners should take from this conflict. Through it all, he never loses his moral compass or his sense of outrage at Russia's behaviour. I commend Mick Ryan's book to anyone wishing to understand the war in Ukraine and its implications for warfare in the twenty-first century.--Michael Fullilove, Executive Director, Lowy Institute

Mick Ryan's book is a solid attempt to paint a comprehensive picture of the first 18-months of Big War at different levels with diverse conclusions worthy of broader attention and consideration. In the process the author managed to highlight the eternal issue of continuity and change in strategy and warfighting using specific examples of Russo-Ukrainian War while constantly reminding that every war is unique and context dependent. I believe this book about the ongoing Ukrainian confrontation with Russia will aid countries which cherish peace and security to quickly learn back the art of strategy and warfighting, which atrophied after the end of the Cold War. --Mykola Bielieskov, National Institute for Strategic Studies in Ukraine

This wonderful book shows Mick Ryan's excellence as a teacher of military strategy and adaptation in warfare. He's observed carefully and often at close range the choices Ukraine and Russia have made to achieve their objectives in the war. I hope it will be required reading in staff and war colleges, as well as garnering a wide public readership. — Kori Schake, Director of Foreign and Defense Policy, American Enterprise Institute

The War for Ukraine combines deep yet accessible military expertise with admirable moral clarity, and an acute sense of both the geopolitical stakes and human cost of this war. Moving at speed, Mick Ryan cuts through the fogs of war and social media alike to illuminate the operations, tactics and strategy that have shaped the conflict. The lessons he draws from Ukraine's fight, particularly on the need for grand strategic alignment of political, military and economic means and ends, are ones that all democratic leaders must heed if we are to prevail in the conflict against authoritarian regimes.--Benjamin Tallis, Senior Research Fellow, German Council on Foreign Relations

Eschewing the breathless focus on the employment of technology that dominates too much commentary on the Russo-Ukraine War, Mick Ryan valuably tackles the strategic level of the conflict before honing in on how both sides have adapted. Ryan's sound insights will most benefit current and future military professionals who have the grave responsibility of preparing for future warfare.--Heather Venable, USAF Air Command and Staff College

I want to thank all those who have helped me produce the book, including friends and colleagues who have observed and analysed this war, as well as the amazing staff at the publisher, USNI Press.

Importantly, I continue to be inspired by the courage and determination of the Ukrainian people - both soldiers and civilians. My book is dedicated to them.

You can order The War for Ukraine at USNI Books and Amazon.