From Sun Tzu and Clausewitz to Heinlein and Orwell, Commanding the Stars explores how writers and strategists alike grapple with the essence of conflict, its logic, its instruments, and its human cost. Whether examining cyber warfare, autonomous systems, or the manipulation of perception and information, VanPutte demonstrates that fictional futures often forecast the next evolution of command and combat.
Organized into five comprehensive parts — Foundations, Means, Military Concepts, Ways, and End Game — the book dissects the anatomy of war across real and imagined battlefields. Readers encounter the full spectrum of strategic thought, from mobilization and logistics to deception, subversion, and the ethical reckoning that follows every campaign.
Drawing vivid lessons from Star Wars, The Expanse, Star Trek, and beyond, VanPutte shows how speculative narratives challenge assumptions and compel flexible, creative thinking, the very traits upon which survival and victory depend. As Eileen Gunn once observed, “Science fiction, at its best, engenders the sort of flexible thinking that not only inspires us but compels us to consider the myriad potential consequences of our actions.”
At once scholarly and visionary, Commanding the Stars bridges the worlds of the strategist and the storyteller. It invites military professionals, students, and writers alike to test their theories within the boundless theater of imagination, before confronting the unforgiving terrain of reality.
Dr. Michael VanPutte is a strategist, technologist, and author who explores the future of conflict through the intersection of military science and imagination. He served twenty-four years in the U.S. Army, beginning as an infantryman and completing Airborne and Ranger School before commanding combat engineers in combat during Operation Desert Storm. After nearly a decade as a combat engineer officer, he transitioned to cyber operations, serving as Director of the Army AI Center and teaching strategy and technology at the U.S. Army War College, where he helped shape the next generation of senior military leaders. He then served as Deputy Director of Operations for the predecessor to U.S. Cyber Command and as a Program Manager at DARPA, leading advanced research and development initiatives.After retiring from the Army, Dr. VanPutte consulted for the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security, and later co-founded Provatek LLC, a defense company specializing in advanced cyber operations. He has taught strategy at the U.S. Army War College and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and computer security at The Ohio State University. He continues to write, lecture, and advise on strategy, technology, and national security, drawing on his experience across kinetic and cyber domains.
