Allies and Adversaries: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Grand Alliance, and U.S. Strategy in World War II

by Mark A. Stoler

During World War II the uniformed heads of the U.S. armed services assumed a pivotal and unprecedented role in the formulation of the nation's foreign policies. Organized soon after Pearl Harbor as the Joint Chiefs of Staff, these individuals were officially responsible only for the nation's military forces. During the war their functions came to encompass a host of foreign policy concerns, however, and so powerful did the military voice become on those issues that only the president exercised a more decisive role in their outcome.Drawing on sources that include the unpublished records of the Joint Chiefs as well as the War, Navy, and State Departments, Mark Stoler analyzes the wartime rise of military influence in U.S. foreign policy. He focuses on the evolution of and debates over U.S. and Allied global strategy. In the process, he examines military fears regarding America's major allies--Great Britain and the Soviet Union--and how those fears affected President Franklin D. Roosevelt's policies, interservice and civil-military relations, military-academic relations, and postwar national security policy as well as wartime strategy.

Genres: Military History, History, Military Fiction, World War II, Nonfiction

398 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 27, 2000

Reviews

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stoler deeply analyzes the strategic thinking of American military leaders, tracing the relative balance between alliance and unilateralism, Britain and the USSR, Europe and the Pacific. Stoler makes remarkable use of long-forgotten planning documents that capture the evolution of military thinking and put lie to the idea that the JCS were unconscious of the political implications of military decisions, and vice-versa.

[Al Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Stoler has adeptly presented the view of World War II that is critical, yet most people don't see. The upper level command and planning staff of the United States and their interaction with the British staff both immediately before the US entry to, during, and post World War II (Cold War).

Stoler has presented the real drivers behind the strategy; Embick, Marshall, Stimpson, Dill, and more and provides their views which shaped both Americas entry to and conduct of the war. The reader will be provided with a straightforward presentation of the "why" America shaped and reacted to what it did in the way it did. The look into the minds and relationships of the staff will be familiar to the modern military professional, and this book is not only an excellent historical reference, but a good case study in staff operations and relationships during wartime in an international coalition.

The sections on the beginning of the Cold War were revealing and a great primer for an entry into that period study as well.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won't lie...this book is full of boring policy, which makes it extremely difficult to get through. With that being said, this is an amazing look at the inner workings of politics during World War II. Stoler examines the influence of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on foreign relations, the dynamics between the Allied powers, and U.S. strategy during World War II in incredible detail. His book is also well-researched, so I know that what I am reading is quality work. In addition, Stoler makes the all-important connection between the decisions made by the Joint Chiefs and Allies and the policies that defined the Cold War which started immediately after World War II.

I recommend this for anyone who is into foreign policy during World War II. Stoler received the 2002 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for Military History for this book, and it is most certainly a seminal work in the history of wartime foreign policy.