Good news -- the insurgency is over! Now we need a new strategy for the Iraq War.

[Fabius Maximus]

Marct, thank you for introducing this concept to the discussion. It might have many applications to the military arts (that is for another thread, perhaps).

What Marct might have had in mind when introducing this concept to the thread (just guessing) was that combat is a powerful instance of emergent behavior.

To over-simplify (am in a hurry), let’s contrast top-down and bottom-up perspectives.

Many factors encourage a top-down analysis in the military arts. The hierarchical command structure of most armies. The top-down perspective of space given by maps. The top-down view of time given by military history.

But combat outcomes result from bottoms-up activity. Such as the specifics of logistics and terrain. But most importantly, the behavior of soldiers as individuals.

The military professionals might learn from study of emergent behavior in theory and reality in other fields.

That is not a new insight, of course. Perhaps would be an interesting thread on SWC, if there is not already one. I for one would be interested in reading it (not competent to say much more about it, except after many brews).