Politics and its Limits in Clausewitz’s Thought on War

Abstract

Carl von Clausewitz’s thought on war represents in a paradigmatic fashion an instrumental conception of violence in politics. For Clausewitz, violence is a means used in war to achieve political ends. Since the end of the East–West conflict, however, it is widely thought that Clausewitz’s ideas are no longer applicable. Current forms of war may be violent, it is said, but they are no longer political because they are not waged by states alone, for the raison d’état narrowly conceived. This objection, however, rests on a misunderstanding of Clausewitz’s concept of politics. This article seeks to reconstruct this concept systematically. It offers an interpretation whereby “politics” in Clausewitz’s theoretical system denotes an interaction of two or more actors, each of whom wants to realize their respective will but whose wills cannot be fully reconciled. For Clausewitz, war is such politics that is conducted by violent means. Against this background, it is argued that Clausewitz’s theory of war provides a fruitful analytical framework to understand the transformations of political violence from the cabinet wars of the 18th century to the “new wars” of our time.