Strategic thinking is the art of outdoing an adversary, knowing that the adversary is trying to do the same to you. All of us must practice strategic thinking at work as well as at home. Businessmen and corporations must use good competitive strategies to survive. Politicians have to devise campaign strategies to get elected, and legislative strategies to implement their visions. Football coaches plan strategies for the players to execute on the field. Parents trying to elicit good behavior from children must become amateur strategists (the children are the pros). For forty years, superpowers’ nuclear strategies have governed the survival of the human race. Good strategic thinking in such numerous diverse contexts remains an art. But its foundations consist of some simple basic principles—an emerging science of strategy. Our premise in writing this book is that readers from a variety of backgrounds and occupations can become better strategists if they know these principles.

战略思维是一种超越对手的艺术，知道对手也在试图对你做同样的事情。我们所有人都必须在工作和家庭中实践战略思维。商人和公司必须使用良好的竞争策略才能生存。政客们必须制定竞选策略来当选，而立法策略则是为了实现他们的愿景。足球教练为球员制定战术，让他们在场上执行。试图从孩子身上获得良好行为的父母必须成为业余的战略家（孩子们是专家）。四十年来，超级大国的核战略控制着人类的生存。在如此众多的不同背景下，良好的战略思维仍然是一门艺术。但它的基础是一些简单的基本原则，一门新兴的战略科学。我们写这本书的前提是，来自不同背景和职业的读者如果了解这些原则，就能成为更好的战略家。