The man we know as “Lawrence of Arabia” has been studied the world over. T. E. Lawrence is an enigmatic figure, who draws enormous curiosity. Yet, like other iconoclasts from the past, there is a tendency to invoke his ideas inappropriately, disconnecting them from their original context and using them to support (not so) new buzzwordy concepts. A long-dead Prussian is constantly turning in his grave for this continued injustice. Lawrence shares some of this pain today, as the US resurrects his ideas to counter insurgencies and advise indigenous forces, using his ’27 Articles’ as dogmatic gospel rather than a guide for critical thinking.
In Lawrence of Arabia On War, Dr. Rob Johnson diligently sets the record straight. He provides an innovative study on T.E. Lawrence and his thinking, on and off the battlefield. Using scrupulous research, Dr. Johnson provides an honest assessment, and highlights the good and bad with T.E. Lawrence. Throughout the book, he demonstrates that Lawrence’s thinking on war remains instructive for present day challenges.
“…with 2,000 years of examples behind us we have no excuse when fighting, for not fighting well.”
Lawrence was ahead of his time. After an examination of his operations with the Arab regular and irregular forces, it can be said that he was not only conducting unconventional warfare, he was bringing hybrid war to bear against a formidable enemy in the Ottoman Turks. Long before tabs, berets, and beards, Lawrence was conducting special operations in the Middle East, using psychological warfare and guerilla tactics with great effect.
Similar to Mao, Lawrence understood the importance of people in politics and war. “Above all it is the local view,” Lawrence believed, which mattered most. Winning allegiance was of supreme importance. Dr. Johnson highlights the “similarity with Lawrence’s suggested ‘arrangement of the minds’ of local forces, the population, and the enemy,” with Mao’s theory of Revolutionary Warfare as “uncanny.”
Off the battlefield, Lawrence had strong and unique views on professional development. In correspondence with Liddell Hart, he warned of the “mentally cramping effects of military professionalism and the tendency of British soldiers to acquiesce unduly in the hierarchy of seniority.” Lawrence called for ‘hard study’ and ‘brain work,’ acquiring a ‘human intelligence’ through creative professional education, not mechanistic training. This debate is still alive and well today.
Dr. Johnson captures Lawrence’s reflections of war with depth, and yields new insights not known to many. After reading this book, it is clear that Lawrence valued leadership, and he urged rigorous study of war in all its manifestations to properly prepare “for the stress, urgency, and intensity of decision-making in conflict.” As he once reminded Liddell Hart, “with 2,000 years of examples behind us we have no excuse when fighting, for not fighting well.”
Perhaps the greatest story from the book is one of moral courage. To be sure, Lawrence was disruptive and disliked discipline, that is, he did not like blind obedience. He did not simply command the band of Arabs to do the King’s bidding, rather he advocated for an ‘arranging of the minds’ and evoked a sense of passion and honor that inspired these fighters to work together with common purpose. At times he acted with defiance, and did not easily succumb to conventional thinking. The virtue of such patience and vigor is timeless in war.
There are eager leaders who wish to ‘go it alone’ for speed of action and control, taking a unilateral approach to our nation’s problems by focusing narrowly on lethality. Lawrence would caution and remind that winning allegiance and the geography of the mind are essential in war, and most importantly, it is these networks of allies and partners that serve as the centerpiece of modern deterrence.
This book is a must-read for CA professionals at all levels. The Eunomia Journal is proud to host Dr. Rob Johnson on our new Key LAGER Engagements (KLE) webinar platform to drink and discuss his book.
What are Key LAGER Engagements?
Key Leader Engagements or KLEs are an important aspect of Civil Affairs Operations and provide a medium for Civil Affairs personnel to engage directly with individuals of authority that represent a spectrum of contextual roles within society. KLEs are vital for understanding the human terrain of a given operating environment as well as building rapport with local populations and institutions. Eunomia Journal’s “Key LAGER Engagement” series strives to serve similar functions as its operational counterpart by providing a forum for the Eunomia Team to engage in constructive dialogue with prominent authors from academia, policy, and fiction and most importantly, do so in a lighthearted environment over drinks. Key Lager Engagements enable members of the Civil Affairs Association and Eunomia Journal subscribers to better understand new topics, theories, and concepts that can potentially impact or improve the capacity of all our members’ professional lives in a fun and engaging way.
These KLE sessions will be 90 minutes in length and hosted live on our CAA online Zoom webinar conference. Registration is required and can be done here. These sessions will be hosted by James Micciche, Kevin Chapla, and Kyle Staron, who prefer to be called collectively as the “The Three Wise-enough Men” who will lead a semi-structured discussion with the author of a recently published book while indulging in libations of their choice.The Three Wise-enough men will be occasionally joined by up to two additional CAA members who will serve as guest hosts based on subject matter of the guest author’s work.The hosts will have read the book in advance and have prepared some questions which they will share with the guests in advance but will primarily keep the conversation light and impromptu and there will be a Q&A session for those in the audience to engage with the author.
This KLE series is kicking-off strong with its first guest and book. Dr. Rob Johnson is the Director of the University of Oxford Changing Character of War Centre. He has been consulted and advises at the highest levels of government by a number of nations and institutions. The Eunomia Team is deeply honored to have him as our first KLE guest. This will surely be a great discussion you don’t want to miss.
About the Author
Arnel P. David is a US Army Strategist serving in the British Army as the U.S. Special Advisor to the Chief of the General Staff. He is a coauthor of the book Military Strategy in the 21st Century: People, Connectivity, and Competition and editor-in-chief of the Eunomia Journal.
The opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied in this article are the author's and do not reflect the views of any organization or any entity of the U.S. or U.K. government.
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