POLS 114.

International Security in a Changing World

Clause-whaaaaa: A Cheat Sheet to Clausewitzs On War

1 FAQs

What are we reading?

Karl Clausewitzs On War. Written sometime between 1816-1832 after the Napoleonic Wars. (And finished
posthumuously by his wife!)
And why are we reading this?
Its considered a quintessential piece of writing on the psychological and political aspects of war including its
causes (war is a continuation of politics by other means) and its conduct (the fog of war).
Whats quintessential about writing on the psychological and political aspects of war?
The context in which Clausewitz wrote it! Throughout most of Western history and up until the Napoleonic
Wars, most people believed war was purely about power and military capabilities like the number of soldiers
you had or the tactical movements you employed. This prevailing view is best summarized in Jominis
Principles of War and Waltzs The Origin of War in Neorealist Theory. Clausewitz thus revolutionized
how we think about and understand war by arguing that its not just about military capabilities, but that
war is also heavily shaped by psychology, politics, and its inherent unpredictability.
Sure, but how does this relate to POLS 114/HIST 104D? Why are we reading it?
Jomini, the political scientist, and Clausewitz, the historian, present two competing ways to understand
and study war. Jomini stresses a calculated, quantitative approach similar to how many political scientists
use statistics and game theory to model the specific causes and conduct of war. Jomini has what we might
call a forward-looking approach; he is interested in predicting what future wars may look like. Clausewitz,
conversely, uses historical case studies from the Napoleonic Wars (although many of them are pretty obscure
to the modern reader) to model the causes and conduct of war. Clausewitz thus has a backward-looking
approach; he is interested in learning why previous wars happened. There are advantages and disadvantages
to either approach; we will outline some in class.
Disclaimer: Dierent translations of Clausewitz produce dierent interpretations of his work. Further,
Clausewitz purposely employs a dialectical writing style which produces apparent contradictions in his
work as he presents a thesis, an antithesis which contradicts it, and then finally his synthesized conclusions.
Therefore, this summary of his main ideas does not fully supplant the need to read and work through his
writing on your own.
2016. Created by Iris Malone. Please do not cite or share without authors permission
One could argue that Sun Tzus seminal work The Art of War had presented a viewpoint as revolutionary, if not moreso,
decades earlier.
To better understand what Clausewitz means by the unpredictability of war, consider this fun anecdote about how
the U.S. winning the Revolutionary War may have hinged on a single British ocers refusal to disrupt his poker game:
http://www.cracked.com/article_18868_5-minor-screw-ups-that-created-modern-world.html

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2 Main Ideas

2.1 What is war?

War is an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will (Book 1, Part 2, p. 75)
Translation: This refers to the political science concept of coercion which you can best grasp by imaging
any fight between an older sibling and her younger brother. Because the older sibling is older, bigger, and
stronger, she can compel her adversary, the younger sibling, to submit to her request by threatening to use
force or actually using force. In particular, Clausewitzs definition implies that war does not lead to the total
destruction of the enemy (or annihilation), but rather the survival of the enemy to do our will.

2.2 Absolute War versus Real War

Clausewitz dierentiates between what war looks like in theory (absolute war, Book 1, Parts 3-5) and what
war actually looks like in practice (real war, Book 1, Parts 6-9). By comparing this theoretical version of
war with reality, Clausewitz aims to identify how and why these two types of war dier.

War in Theory versus War in Reality

War in Theory War in Reality

Translation: This is what war looks like if people sit This is what war actually looks like; its
down and plan out a war with hypotheti- messy, unexpected, and dicult to control,
cal opponents, e.g. Star Treks Kobayashi e.g. the Revolution in the Hunger Games
Maru exercise. trilogy
Conduct:
maximum use of force war is not always fought until one side
total and zero-sum; fight until the wins, ex. U.S. Revolutionary War
other side is completely destroyed war is frequently interrupted and
devote all resources necessary to win never final, ex. Israel-Palestine
war is unpredictable only use the minimum amount re-
sources necessary to win
war is never accidental

Limits: None; conduct leads to escalation of the Political leaders define limited war objec-
extreme tives and control the military
Conclusion: War is apolitical and irrational War is political and rational

2.3 The Trinity of War

How do we get from war in theory to war in reality?

Answer: The set of factors governing the conduct of war known as the trinity of war (Book 1, Part

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 Figure 1: Clausewitzs Trinity of War

Reason Public opinion shapes policy Emotion and Passion

The Government Government justifies actions to public The People

Military strategy influ- Public opinion influences

ences political objectives; military doctrine;
government influences militarys will influences
military resources Chance public opinion
The Military

28). It is often translated in one of two ways. Even though a states ability to wage war depends on these
three factors, these factors are heavily shaped by country and time-dependent circumstances. As a result,
war is like a chameleon (Book 1, Part 28).
Translation 1: The Trinity of War
Emotion: human nature, primordial violence, hatred, and enmity
Chance: uncertainty about each others intentions and motivations, probabilistic nature of war, luck
Reason: policy and use of war as a tool for politics
Translation 2: The Trinity of War
People: their motivation, dedication, and support of the government
Military: their competence, obedience, and organization
Government: their pragmatism, leadership, and ability to mobilize the peoples support for war
Check your understanding below. How did each of these groups influence the conduct of war?
Example. United States and the Iraq War (2003 - 2011)
People: What was their motivation for war? Did they support the government and for how long?
Military: Did the U.S. military develop a suitable doctrine? Was the doctrine eectively adapted to
changing circumstances on the battlefield? Did they give the goverment their best possible advice?
Government: Did the U.S. government define clear objectives for the war? Did it eectively mobilize
the support of the American people?

2.4 Oense versus Defense Capabilities

Motivation. Recall that one dierence between war in theory and war in reality is that the former is fought
until the enemy is completely disarmed, but, in reality, war is often frequently interrupted and ends without
Adapted from In Search of High Ground, Lt Col David Edmonds, USAF, http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/
airchronicles/apj/apj98/spr98/edmonds.html

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completely defeating the enemy. In order to fight the enemy, Clausewitz argues armies can choose either
oensive or defensive strategies of combat. What are the advantages to each?
Translation: Think back to our earlier example about an older sibling trying to coerce her younger brother
to do something for him. We saw that because the older sibling is older, bigger, and stronger, she has an
oensive superiority against the younger sibling because, in a fight, she is more likely to win. We say then
that the balance of power between the two siblings lies in favor of the older sibling.
In this scenario, what can the younger sibling do to defeat his older sister? If he takes an oensive strategy,
he might choose to fight his sister and hope that pulling her hair will be sucient to make her back down. If
he takes a defensive strategy, he might choose to retreat to his room and wait until his parents get home at
which point his parents will dismiss the sisters asinine request.
Main Idea: In reality, war ends without completely defeating the enemy because defensive strategies work.
It is easier to prevent the other side from getting what you already have than to acquire something new. This
is why, in the context of civil wars, insurgencies, and terrorists, non-state actors predominantly engage in
defensive strategies that stretch out the length of the war until the state eventually capitulates; continuing the
war for a long time is unpopular, costly, and not worth the risk, e.g. the Vietnam War. Oensive strategies
are a good way to increase your power or gain territory, but require a lot of resources and risk higher costs
(e.g. military casualties) to win.
Relevance?
For hundreds of years, most wars involved oensive strategies because states wanted to acquire territory,
overthrow a regime, or enact some other kind of political change that required them to take the initiative
and fight. Today, the advent of nuclear weapons and the increase in irregular warfare (or warfare between
non-state actors and states) has led to a subsequent increase in wars involving defensive strategies. Some
people argue that these events moot Clausewitzs main arguments about the conduct of war.

3 Additional Resources
Frequently Asked Questions about Clausewitz http://www.clausewitz.com/mobile/faqs.htm#What

Who is afraid of Carl von Clausewitz? A Guide to the Perplexed http://www.clausewitz.com/readings/Handel/Handlart.htm

National War Colleges Guide to Teaching and Understanding Clausewitz http://www.clausewitz.com/readings/NWC/ClausewitzNotesAY2008.htm|

Clausewitz labels this complete disarmament of the enemy as the principle of continuity.
Well talk in class about why such attrition strategies work when we talk about insurgency and terrorism later in the quarter.
For now, you might just be interested to know that a large part of Mao Zedongs writings on guerrilla warfare (peoples war)
can be found, in essence, in Book 6, Section 26.