Clausewitz

Center of Gravity: What We Can Learn From Spanish Television’s Casa de Papel

SWJED — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 15:01:51 +0000

Center of Gravity: What We Can Learn From Spanish Television’s Casa de Papel SWJED Tue, 04/14/2020 - 11:01am

Like the mystery of the pyramids or the recent findings in Holy Scripture, the Center of Gravity concept has all the ingredients to generate passionate debates. The 19th century master of military theory, Carl von Clausewitz, first introduced the concept in his unfinished manuscript published after his death. It remained largely unknown, like old papyrus, until it was poorly translated to English and resurrected in Western military theory in the 1980’s as THE key for victory! Since then it has taken on the status of military theory’s ‘Holy Grail’ and fueled countless quests for truth and understanding.

Clausewitz and His… Singularity?

SWJED — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 14:33:11 +0000

Clausewitz and His… Singularity? SWJED Mon, 02/17/2020 - 9:33am

Long before his famous Trinity Clausewitz had discovered the Singularity. No, no, YOU get out! It’s true! It’s not really a secret- it’s just that people who built their careers as Strategists (gasp!) get paid a lot of money to lecturing practitioners would prefer you to believe in the mystery of Clausewitz, a mystery that only Strategists (gasp!) can unravel.

Clausewitz as an Immovable Object or the Need for a New War Theory in the Study of Warfare in Borno State, Northeast Nigeria

SWJED — Sat, 23 Sep 2017 02:55:52 +0000

Clausewitz as an Immovable Object or the Need for a New War Theory in the Study of Warfare in Borno State, Northeast Nigeria

On Carl von Clausewitz: What is less spoken of is his study of small wars and people’s war.

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Deconstructing Society: Clausewitz vs. Machiavelli

SWJED — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 00:37:37 +0000

Deconstructing Society: Clausewitz vs. Machiavelli SWJED Sun, 02/12/2017 - 7:37pm

Line-on-line warfare of the past hasn’t evolved into something completely new; it’s the greater quantity of small action conflict we should burden our minds with.

Give Carl von Clausewitz and the Center of Gravity a Divorce

Peter J. Munson — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 07:30:35 +0000

Give Carl von Clausewitz and the Center of Gravity a Divorce Peter J. Munson Tue, 07/02/2013 - 3:30am

Because we love Carl von Clausewitz and the center of gravity concept, we need to grant them a divorce- for our sake.

Joint Force 2020 and the Human Domain: Time for a New Conceptual Framework?

Peter J. Munson — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 07:30:00 +0000

Joint Force 2020 and the Human Domain: Time for a New Conceptual Framework? Peter J. Munson Mon, 06/10/2013 - 3:30am

Our doctrine overlooks the essence of war as a human enterprise. This article explores how to rectify this within the context of supporting the evolution of the U.S. military towards Joint Force 2020.

Why Do We Often Fail to Correctly Measure Success in Wars?

Peter J. Munson — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 07:30:00 +0000

Why Do We Often Fail to Correctly Measure Success in Wars? Peter J. Munson Wed, 04/10/2013 - 3:30am

If physical success on the battlefield cannot be translated into part of a larger aim, it is largely irrelevant even if it does a great deal of physical damage to the enemy.

What is War? A New Point of View

Peter J. Munson — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 10:30:00 +0000

What is War? A New Point of View Peter J. Munson Wed, 12/05/2012 - 5:30am

War is the coherent execution of all means to bring about sufficient adherence to a nation’s will in the international (global) arena; resulting in armed conflict only when all other means fail.

Primitivization of War and Prospects for Peace

Peter J. Munson — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 09:30:00 +0000

Primitivization of War and Prospects for Peace Peter J. Munson Fri, 09/14/2012 - 5:30am

The barbarians have come and the rules of war and peace stand transformed.

Tip-Toe Through the Trinity

Peter J. Munson — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 09:30:00 +0000

Tip-Toe Through the Trinity

Dave Maxwell points out an excellent read for Labor Day from Christopher Bassford entitled "Tip-Toe through the Trinity or the Strange Persistence of Trinitarian Warfare." From the conclusion:

Much of the criticism of Clausewitz essentially boils down to a complaint that he never stated his entire theory in a way we could all grasp by reading a single pithy sentence—at most, a pithy paragraph. Nonetheless, the 300-word Section 28 of Book 1, Chapter 1, of On War is an amazingly compressed summation of reality. Clausewitz’s Trinity is all-inclusive and universal, comprising the subjective and the objective; the unilateral and multilateral; the intellectual, the emotional, and the physical components that comprise the phenomenon of war in any human construct. Indeed, through the subtraction of a few adjectives that narrow its scope to war, it is easily expanded to encompass all of human experience. It is thus a profoundly realistic concept. Understanding it as the central, connecting idea in Clausewitzian theory will help us to order the often confusing welter of his ideas and to apply them, in a useful, comparative manner, both to the history of the world we live in and to its present realities. Most important, its realism will help us steer clear of the worst tendencies of theory and of ideology, of “pure reason” and logic, and of pure emotion.

Peter J. Munson Mon, 09/03/2012 - 5:30am