In the last grand strategy class before spring break this semester, we came to Napoleon. It’s been a long journey from Sun Tzu back at the start of the semester, but Napoleon, himself an assiduous student of grand strategy who carried a copy of Sun Tzu with him on campaign, studied the careers of Hannibal and Scipio, and made practical and conscious use of the teachings of Machiavelli, is an important figure for young grand strategists to contemplate.

Dedicating time to Napoleon is one of the shifts I’ve made to the grand strategy curriculum used at the mother of all grand strategy programs back at Yale. I don’t do this lightly, but Napoleon strikes me as a pivotal figure in strategic history whose rise and fall have much to teach, and whose career and accomplishments...