Castex treats policy and strategy as competing requirements that produce an imperfect compromise. The task is to identify the least bad achievable arrangement, even though human error often prevents it. Both should serve a national plan expressing the country's will to fight, for which the government is responsible. In peacetime, military strategy continues because forces need maintenance, training, and preparation for future employment. A coherent government plan can disappear while ministers respond to immediate problems. Short terms in office, political struggles, and insufficient specialist preparation obstruct sustained planning.
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Castex's least bad compromise between policy and strategy
Military planning can persist while national policy loses continuity, leaving governments and armed forces to negotiate imperfect compromises.