Strategic Thought Questions and Answers

Q: As per Colin Flint each country in the world defines its geopolitical code, consisting of five main calculations. Which of the following is not part of that ?

The one not part of the geopolitical code is How can we be friends with our current enemies and emerging threats.In Introduction to Geopolitics, Colin Flint describes a country's geopolitical code as five calculations: who are our current and potential allies; who are our current and potential enemies; how can we maintain our allies and nurture potential allies; how can we counter our current enemies and emerging threats; and how can we justify these calculations to our own public and to the global community.The first three options are on the list. The fourth turns 'counter' into 'be friends with', which is not one of Flint's calculations.

Q: Who among the following stated that 'Geopolitics is a pseudo-science erecting the factor of geography into an absolute' ?

The criticism is Hans J. Morgenthau's, written in the paper as 'Morganthau'.In Politics Among Nations, Morgenthau accepted geography as an important element of national power but attacked geopolitics as a pseudo-science for turning geography into an absolute that was supposed to decide the power and fate of nations. He had in mind above all the German Geopolitik of Karl Haushofer, which served Nazi expansion.Mackinder, Spykman and Haushofer were themselves geopolitical thinkers, the authors of the Heartland, Rimland and Lebensraum ideas, so they are not the critics of the discipline.

Q: Who was a key proponent of 'strategic bombing in aerial warfare' ?

The key proponent was Giulio Douhet.The Italian general Giulio Douhet, in The Command of the Air (1921), argued that aircraft would decide future wars: an air force that won command of the air could bomb the enemy's cities, industry and population centres directly, breaking the will to fight without long land campaigns. He is regarded as the father of strategic bombing theory.Liddell Hart is known for the indirect approach in land strategy, and Mao Zedong for guerrilla and protracted people's war. Since Douhet fits, 'None of the above' is wrong.

Q: Carl Von Clausewitz is associated with which of the following statements ?

The keyed statement is War is the constitution of politics by other means.Carl von Clausewitz wrote in On War (published in 1832) that war is merely the continuation of policy (or politics) by other means. The paper prints 'constitution' where the famous line has 'continuation', but this is plainly the option that reproduces his dictum: war serves political ends and remains subordinate to them.The other statements contradict him. 'War should steer politics' reverses his order, since for Clausewitz the political aim steers the war. Economic necessity as the root of war is closer to Marxist theory, and the claim that war is periodically desirable belongs to militarist or social Darwinist writers, not to Clausewitz.

Q: Machiavelli was appointed as secretary and second Chancellor of .......

The answer is Republic of Florentine, that is, the Florentine Republic.In 1498, after the fall of Savonarola, Niccolo Machiavelli was appointed head of the Second Chancery of the Republic of Florence and secretary to the Ten of War, the body that handled the city's diplomacy and military affairs. He served until the Medici returned in 1512.Siena and Venice were separate Italian republics with which Florence dealt as rivals or partners, and Geneva was a Swiss city-republic associated with Calvin. Machiavelli held office in none of them.

Q: Which of the following thinkers rejected the old condottieri system and favoured the idea of national troops ?

The answer is Niccolo Machiavelli.The condottieri were mercenary captains whom Italian states hired to fight their wars. In The Prince and The Art of War Machiavelli condemned mercenaries as disunited, ambitious and faithless, and argued that a state should rely on its own citizen soldiers. As secretary of the Florentine Republic he put this into practice by organising a Florentine militia in 1506.Giulio Douhet was the Italian theorist of air power in the 1920s, Liddell Hart (spelt 'Liddle' in the paper) the British writer of the indirect approach, and Clausewitz the Prussian theorist of war and politics. None of them was concerned with the condottieri system, which had long disappeared by their time.

Q: "Whoever controls the Indian Ocean will dominate Asia". These words were said by which person ?

The words are attributed to Admiral Mahan.Alfred Thayer Mahan, the American naval officer whose The Influence of Sea Power upon History (1890) founded modern sea-power theory, is credited with saying that whoever controls the Indian Ocean will dominate Asia, and that the ocean is the key to the seven seas. The quotation is repeated in almost every Indian textbook on maritime security, though it has not been traced to a particular passage of his published work.Nehru wrote on the importance of the sea to India but is not the source of this line. Admiral Nelson was a British commander of the Napoleonic wars, and General MacArthur was associated with the Pacific war and Korea, not with this saying.

Q: Who among the following compared guerrillas to fish and support from people to water ?

The answer is Mao Tse Tung.In On Guerrilla Warfare (1937) Mao wrote that the people are like water and the army like fish living in it. The image sums up his doctrine that a guerrilla force survives only with the support, shelter and intelligence of the local population, which is why counter-insurgency later spoke of 'draining the sea'.Che Guevara wrote his own manual, Guerrilla Warfare (1960), built on the idea of a small armed nucleus (the foco), not on Mao's fish metaphor. Liddell Hart wrote on the indirect approach in conventional war, and David Rapoport is a scholar of terrorism known for his 'four waves' theory.

Q: Who propounded the 'Mandala Theory' of Interstate relations ?

The answer is Kautilya.In the Arthashastra Kautilya describes the Mandala (circle of states). The ruler who seeks conquest, the vijigishu, stands at the centre; the state next to him is his natural enemy (ari), the one beyond that is a natural friend (mitra), and so on outward, with middle and neutral kings completing a circle of twelve. The theory treats neighbours as rivals and the neighbour's neighbour as an ally.Valmiki composed the Ramayana, Manu is the lawgiver of the Manusmriti, and Shukra is credited with the Shukraniti, a later text on polity. None of them propounded the Mandala theory.

Q: Who among the following is the author of 'Armament and History' ?

The author is J.F.C. Fuller.Major-General J.F.C. Fuller, the British pioneer of armoured warfare, published Armament and History in 1945. It traces how changes in weapons, from the phalanx to the atomic bomb, have shaped the conduct of war and the course of civilisation.Jomini wrote The Art of War (1838) on Napoleonic strategy; Liddell Hart (spelt 'Liddle' in the paper) wrote Strategy: The Indirect Approach; and Hitler's book was Mein Kampf, a political tract rather than a military history.

31.

As per Colin Flint each country in the world defines its geopolitical code, consisting of five main calculations. Which of the following is not part of that ?

A.Who are our current and potential allies
B.Who are our current and potential enemies
C.How can we maintain our allies and nurture potential allies
D.How can we be friends with our current enemies and emerging threats

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2021, SET Exam - 2021,

Answer: D

The one not part of the geopolitical code is How can we be friends with our current enemies and emerging threats.

In Introduction to Geopolitics, Colin Flint describes a country's geopolitical code as five calculations: who are our current and potential allies; who are our current and potential enemies; how can we maintain our allies and nurture potential allies; how can we counter our current enemies and emerging threats; and how can we justify these calculations to our own public and to the global community.

The first three options are on the list. The fourth turns 'counter' into 'be friends with', which is not one of Flint's calculations.

Discuss in Forum

32.

Who among the following stated that 'Geopolitics is a pseudo-science erecting the factor of geography into an absolute' ?

A.Mackinder
B.N. J. Spikman
C.Carl Haushofer
D.Hans J. Morganthau

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2020, SET Exam - 2020,

Answer: D

The criticism is Hans J. Morgenthau's, written in the paper as 'Morganthau'.

In Politics Among Nations, Morgenthau accepted geography as an important element of national power but attacked geopolitics as a pseudo-science for turning geography into an absolute that was supposed to decide the power and fate of nations. He had in mind above all the German Geopolitik of Karl Haushofer, which served Nazi expansion.

Mackinder, Spykman and Haushofer were themselves geopolitical thinkers, the authors of the Heartland, Rimland and Lebensraum ideas, so they are not the critics of the discipline.

Discuss in Forum

33.

Who was a key proponent of 'strategic bombing in aerial warfare' ?

A.Giulio Douhet
B.L. B. H. Liddell Hart
C.Mao Zedong
D.None of the above

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2021, SET Exam - 2021,

Answer: A

The key proponent was Giulio Douhet.

The Italian general Giulio Douhet, in The Command of the Air (1921), argued that aircraft would decide future wars: an air force that won command of the air could bomb the enemy's cities, industry and population centres directly, breaking the will to fight without long land campaigns. He is regarded as the father of strategic bombing theory.

Liddell Hart is known for the indirect approach in land strategy, and Mao Zedong for guerrilla and protracted people's war. Since Douhet fits, 'None of the above' is wrong.

Discuss in Forum

34.

Carl Von Clausewitz is associated with which of the following statements ?

A.War stems from economic necessity
B.War should steer politics
C.War is the constitution of politics by other means
D.War is periodically desirable

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: C

The keyed statement is War is the constitution of politics by other means.

Carl von Clausewitz wrote in On War (published in 1832) that war is merely the continuation of policy (or politics) by other means. The paper prints 'constitution' where the famous line has 'continuation', but this is plainly the option that reproduces his dictum: war serves political ends and remains subordinate to them.

The other statements contradict him. 'War should steer politics' reverses his order, since for Clausewitz the political aim steers the war. Economic necessity as the root of war is closer to Marxist theory, and the claim that war is periodically desirable belongs to militarist or social Darwinist writers, not to Clausewitz.

Discuss in Forum

35.

Machiavelli was appointed as secretary and second Chancellor of .......

A.Republic of Siena
B.Republic of Florentine
C.Republic of Geneva
D.Republic of Venice

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: B

The answer is Republic of Florentine, that is, the Florentine Republic.

In 1498, after the fall of Savonarola, Niccolo Machiavelli was appointed head of the Second Chancery of the Republic of Florence and secretary to the Ten of War, the body that handled the city's diplomacy and military affairs. He served until the Medici returned in 1512.

Siena and Venice were separate Italian republics with which Florence dealt as rivals or partners, and Geneva was a Swiss city-republic associated with Calvin. Machiavelli held office in none of them.

Discuss in Forum

36.

Which of the following thinkers rejected the old condottieri system and favoured the idea of national troops ?

A.Giulio Douhet
B.Niccolo Machiavelli
C.Liddle Hart
D.Karl Von Clausewitz

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: B

The answer is Niccolo Machiavelli.

The condottieri were mercenary captains whom Italian states hired to fight their wars. In The Prince and The Art of War Machiavelli condemned mercenaries as disunited, ambitious and faithless, and argued that a state should rely on its own citizen soldiers. As secretary of the Florentine Republic he put this into practice by organising a Florentine militia in 1506.

Giulio Douhet was the Italian theorist of air power in the 1920s, Liddell Hart (spelt 'Liddle' in the paper) the British writer of the indirect approach, and Clausewitz the Prussian theorist of war and politics. None of them was concerned with the condottieri system, which had long disappeared by their time.

Discuss in Forum

37.

"Whoever controls the Indian Ocean will dominate Asia". These words were said by which person ?

A.Admiral Mahan
B.Jawaharlal Nehru
C.Admiral Nelson
D.General Douglas MacArthur

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: A

The words are attributed to Admiral Mahan.

Alfred Thayer Mahan, the American naval officer whose The Influence of Sea Power upon History (1890) founded modern sea-power theory, is credited with saying that whoever controls the Indian Ocean will dominate Asia, and that the ocean is the key to the seven seas. The quotation is repeated in almost every Indian textbook on maritime security, though it has not been traced to a particular passage of his published work.

Nehru wrote on the importance of the sea to India but is not the source of this line. Admiral Nelson was a British commander of the Napoleonic wars, and General MacArthur was associated with the Pacific war and Korea, not with this saying.

Discuss in Forum

38.

Who among the following compared guerrillas to fish and support from people to water ?

A.Che Guevera
B.Mao Tse Tung
C.Liddle Hart
D.David Rappaport

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: B

The answer is Mao Tse Tung.

In On Guerrilla Warfare (1937) Mao wrote that the people are like water and the army like fish living in it. The image sums up his doctrine that a guerrilla force survives only with the support, shelter and intelligence of the local population, which is why counter-insurgency later spoke of 'draining the sea'.

Che Guevara wrote his own manual, Guerrilla Warfare (1960), built on the idea of a small armed nucleus (the foco), not on Mao's fish metaphor. Liddell Hart wrote on the indirect approach in conventional war, and David Rapoport is a scholar of terrorism known for his 'four waves' theory.

Discuss in Forum

39.

Who propounded the 'Mandala Theory' of Interstate relations ?

A.Valmiki
B.Kautilya
C.Manu
D.Shukra

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: B

The answer is Kautilya.

In the Arthashastra Kautilya describes the Mandala (circle of states). The ruler who seeks conquest, the vijigishu, stands at the centre; the state next to him is his natural enemy (ari), the one beyond that is a natural friend (mitra), and so on outward, with middle and neutral kings completing a circle of twelve. The theory treats neighbours as rivals and the neighbour's neighbour as an ally.

Valmiki composed the Ramayana, Manu is the lawgiver of the Manusmriti, and Shukra is credited with the Shukraniti, a later text on polity. None of them propounded the Mandala theory.

Discuss in Forum

40.

Who among the following is the author of 'Armament and History' ?

A.Jomini
B.J.F.C. Fuller
C.Hitler
D.Liddle Hart

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: B

The author is J.F.C. Fuller.

Major-General J.F.C. Fuller, the British pioneer of armoured warfare, published Armament and History in 1945. It traces how changes in weapons, from the phalanx to the atomic bomb, have shaped the conduct of war and the course of civilisation.

Jomini wrote The Art of War (1838) on Napoleonic strategy; Liddell Hart (spelt 'Liddle' in the paper) wrote Strategy: The Indirect Approach; and Hitler's book was Mein Kampf, a political tract rather than a military history.

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