War without End(s)

The End of Clausewitz

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12848367
AutoresAndreas Herberg‐rothe (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, autor de correspondencia), Jan Willem Honig (0000-0002-8851-4457, Swedish Defence University)
Año2007
Volumen8
Número2
Páginas133-150
Fecha de publicación2007-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaDistinktion Journal of Social Theory (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1600-910X • E-ISSN: 2159-9149
EditorialRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1600910x.2007.9672950
OpenAlexW1996345345
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas22

This article argues that both anti- and pro-Clausewitzians have tended to base their views on an incomplete understanding of Clausewitz. We claim that the so-called ‘new wars’ do not require a new analytical paradigm, as is suggested by anti-Clausewitzians like Martin van Creveld and John Keegan. But this does not mean that the prevailing pro-Clausewitzian discourse cannot be challenged. Clausewitz, as is well-known, employed a dialectical method of arguing in extremes. But whereas we suggest that Clausewitz sought to situate actual war between extremes, the modern discourses share the mistake of seeing the extremes as incompatible alternatives. We argue that a deeper understanding of Clausewitz's theory, and in particular his views on the state, on policy and politics, as well as on his so-called ‘trinity’ of competing forces of war, provides a framework for analysis that is still valid. This also implies that the attempt to replace Clausewitz with another classical thinker, Sun Tzu, may not be necessary; it may in fact be unproductive. Our approach furthermore suggests that a strong strand in anti-Clausewitzian discourse, which sees the new wars as endemic and marked by irrational, barbaric, and purposeless violence, is at least partly mistaken. The wars of the future may be endless, but they are unlikely to be without ends

Dialectic · Epistemology · Irrational number · Mistake · Political science · Politics · State (computer science · High-Velocity Impact and Material Behavior · Law · Mathematics · Military History and Strategy · Philosophy · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East