Decisive victory

The term decisive victory refers to a military victory that decides a matter or a conflict.^[1] A decisive victory has to result in a positive outcome for the victor and create a condition of peace between the two warring states.^[2] By comparison, an inconclusive victory is one in which one side won, but the issues between them are not resolved. A desirable goal for all armies fighting conventional wars is a quick and decisive victory with few casualties.^[3] For example, in the Six-Day War that started on 5 June 1967, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) achieved a decisive victory over the combined armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan.^[3] This established Israel as a regional power in the Middle East with about six years of peace.^[3] During the Cold War (1947-1991) the idea of a decisive victory (or any victory) seemed obsolete.^[4] Instead, the theory of limited war seemed more practical in the age of nuclear weapons as it would not escalate into a full-scale war that would result in mutual assured destruction.^[4]

1. ↑ "decisive". The Free Dictionary. Farlex. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
2. ↑ Chong Shi Hao. "A Swift and Decisive Victory The Strategic Implications of What Victory Means". Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO). Columbia University Press. Retrieved 16 September 2016.^{[permanent dead link]}
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} George W. Gawrych. "The 1973 Arab-Israeli War: The Albatross of Decisive Victory" (PDF). Leavenworth Papers; No. 21. U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Colin S. Gray, Defining and Achieving Decisive Victory (Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, April 2002), p. v