Contents

Foreword

James Stavridis

Part 1. People and War

1. Mycah’s Parents Didn’t Get a Vote

Max Brooks

2. A House to Be Feared

Jonathan P. Klug

3. Fear or Love: Insights from Machiavelli for Those Who Seek the Iron Throne

Liam Collins

4. The Source of Tyrion Lannister’s Unlikely Survival and Success

Joe Byerly

5. The Mother of Dragons: Defiant Leadership for Uncertain Times

Rick Montcalm

6. Lessons for Command from Khaleesi’s Rise

Erica Iverson

7. From Brienne of Tarth to Lyanna Mormont: Shifting Attitudes about Women in Combat

Kelsey Cipolla

8. You Know Something, Jon Snow, about the Qualities of a Strategic Leader

P. W. Singer and ML Cavanaugh

Part 2. Technology and War

9. The Lessons of Viserion and Technological Advantage

Jonathan E. Czarnecki

10. Game of Pwns: Baelish and Varys as Drivers of Modern Conflict

Nina A. Kollars

11. WMD in Westeros and Beyond

Magnus F. Nordenman

12. The Influence of Sea Power on Westeros

Michael Junge

13. Winning the Waves: Sea Power and the Seven Kingdoms

Bryan McGrath

14. What the Walls of Westeros Teach Us about War and Warfare

John Spencer

Part 3. Combat and War

15. Siege Warfare in the Seven Kingdoms

Lionel Beehner, Benedetta Berti, and Mike Jackson

16. Dragons, Dothraki, and Achieving Victory in Battle

Mick Cook

17. The Wildlings at the Wall: When Climate Drives Conflict

J. Daniel Batt

18. Shock and Chaos: Psychological Weapons of War in Westeros and Our World

Gregory S. Drobny

19. How to Fight the Lannister Armies

Joshua D. Powers and Jonathan Bott

20. Becoming No One: Human Intelligence in the Seven Kingdoms

Andrea N. Goldstein

21. The Battle of the Bastards and the Importance of the Reserve

Jess Ward

Part 4. Strategy and War

22. The Myth of the Accidental Strategist

Steve Leonard

23. Why the Westerosi Can’t Win Wars

Chuck Bies

24. Strategic Storytelling in Game of Thrones

Jaym Gates

25. Resources, War, and the Night King’s Deadly Arithmetic

Andrew A. Hill

26. The Red Wedding and the Power of Norms

Theresa Hitchens

27. Daenerys Targaryen’s Coalitions for War

Mick Ryan

28. Arya Stark’s Targeted Killing and Strategic Decision-Making

Craig Whiteside

29. Ned Stark, Hero of the Seven Kingdoms, and Why the Good Guys Win (in the End)

ML Cavanaugh

30. White Walkers and the Nature of War

Paul Scharre

Epilogue: Down from the Citadel, Off the Wall

ML Cavanaugh

Contributors