Clausewitz's Theory of War and Victory in Contemporary Conflict

Abstract

This article considers whether Clausewitz's account of the nature of war is universal to all wars, in order then to assess how far his concept of victory is universal. While aspects of Clausewitz's concept of war are still universal, others are not. Accordingly, his theory of victory is not universal to all wars, and especially not to wars fought against transnational terrorist networks. W estern strategic thought is still heavily conditioned by the work of the Prussian soldier-scholar Carl von Clausewitz. In his main work, On War, he sets out a theory of war and a theory of warfare. The two are intrinsically related; his theory of warfare is designed to work within his theory of war. This article considers first how far Clausewitz's theory of war applies today, and then, considers the applicability of the idea of victory within his theory of warfare. Clausewitz's Theory of the Nature of War To assess both continuity and change in war, a standard distinction in contemporary debate is drawn between the nature (permanent features) and character (context dependent features) of war. Although this distinction is commonly misattributed to Clausewitz, he did not use the term "nature" in quite this way. Hence at the end of book 1, chapter 1, he writes: "War is thus more than a mere chameleon, because it changes its nature (seine natur) to some extent in each concrete case." 1 If nature is supposed to be unchanging, how can we make sense of this passage? As Antulio J. Echevarria II sets out, Clausewitz followed a dialectical analytical framework in which the world could be seen either in the abstract, through the lens of reasoning based on pure logic, or in reality, through the lens of reasoning based on practical experience. 2 To understand the nature of a given phenomenon through this dialectical analysis, the abstract perspective is tested against practical reality. In On War, this dialectical analysis produces a narrow and a broad account of what war is. Both are set out in book 1, chapter 1, which opens with this definition of war as an abstract phenomenon: