Clausewitz in the 21st Century Essay Example for Free

Clausewitz in the 21st Century EssayThe work of Carl von Clausewitz continues to bring about heated debate in the 21st Century. While more scholars see Clausewitzs On War as an indispensible military thought in the modern time, others view it as an obsolete or mor every last(predicate)y pixilated argument for unlimited, unrestrained and brutal warfare. 1 Notwithstanding the opposition of present times, this renowned work is considered incomplete and its lack of prescriptive contents has subjected it to interpretations and discourses.Facing this encumbrance, the study of On War has to go beyond textual analysis to an appreciation of the historical context which influenced the springs idea and the evolution of the book over time. Fortunately, with the permanent efforts of numerous historians, we now know that Clausewitzs experiences in the Napoleonic Wars and his study in the age of Frederick the Great (and beyond) allowed him to create a unified, all encompassing scheme of war. 2 To date, much literature has been written to attest to the relevance of Clausewitzs theories in modern warfare and assert the timelessness of On War.This paper examines the insights gained from the great studies on Clausewitzs works and re-confirm the continued relevance of his theories by (1) identifying the character of 21st Century warfare, followed by (2) an interpretation of Clausewitzs theories and his underlying thinking, and finally (3) examining the relevance of the theories touch and determine how they bay window be applied in the 21st Century. The 21st Century Warfare The character of warfare has evolved since the passing of Carl von Clausewitz 180 years ago. The likeliness of massive clashes between onventional forces seems to be diminishing and the beingness has seen the dawn of non-state actors challenging established states with asymmetric warfare4 techniques.William Lind capably chronicled the evolution of warfare in four generations, which began with th e slumber of Westphalia in 1648. He described present day warfare as fourth-generation warfare (4GW) that is characterized by a universal crisis of authenticity of the state, where militaries had to fight against threats that are international in nature and are very difficult to deal with. 5 The capabilities of these threat entities stem from the cause of globalisation that strike enabled further, faster, deeper and cheaper means to reach around the world. 6 In addition to the physical reach, forthwiths in figure of speechation engineering has also brought about various modern communication avenues that allow collaboration and ready advance to information. Consequently, this also allowed rapid access to media pipelines enabling belligerents to exploit them to further their cause.These have bestowed transnational terrorist organisations such as Al-Qaeda, and the more sophisticated Hezbollah7, with the abilities to acquire equipment, knowledge and instruments that check those o f the traditional state to wage wars. According to Lind, 4GW also brings together the relevance of mass firepower dominated by artillery in the second-generation warfare and manoeuvre creations of third-generation warfare, qualification it more complex than ever before.Therefore, we can conclude at this point that 21st Century strategists and war-fighters have to contend with both conventional threats from traditional states and wrongful threats from non-state actors, both whom are capable of waging wars. Intricacies of Clausewitzs Work To grasp how Clausewitzs theories can be applied in 4GW, it is necessary to decipher the underlying thinking of the authors work.Many of Clausewitzs theories articulated in On War are remarkably well integrated despite the fact that On War is an unfinished book. Without going into details, this can be illustrated using Clausewitzs famous paradoxical trinity. The constructs of the trinity comprises three interrelated comp sensationnts of war, namel y the commandant and his soldiers, the race and the government. 8 Clausewitz connected each of these human actors to three sets of forces (1) The commander and his army are polar generally with non-rational forces of riction, chance and hazard, (2) the people are paired mainly with ill-advised forces that refers to the emotions of prime violence, hatred and enmity, and (3) the government, which is less of a concern in this paper, is paired mainly with the rational force of calculation and reasoning. 9As illustrated, Clausewitz has unified many an(prenominal) ideas and concepts he developed over the period of study in his own youth and middle age. The following discussion exit examine the specific ideas and theories concerned. The unreasoning Elements Irrational forces is one of the three forces that were interpreted by Bassford to provide a symmetrical representation of dominant tendencies in Clausewitzs trinity. 10 While the three sets of forces were paired with each com ponent of the trinity, it must be stressed that Clausewitz actually used the word mehrzugewendet in his original German manuscript, which means mainly, in the associations. 11 Thus, it is clear that the author did not rule out that any one of the forces can be present in all components to few variable extent, and that this is the reason behind dialectical relationships between components.Indeed, looking at the real world, military men and politicians are also members of the people, given that they may belong to different parts of society. In that sense, irrational forces are linked to all human actors and therefore its dominant beliefs will provide the fuel for political decisions12. This in turn may shape the solution of a military campaign, which is consequential based on Clausewitzs argument that war is an instrument of policy. In his book, Clausewitz contended that the population is an integral element among the factors at work in war13 and conceived the idea of Peoples War, defining it as a state-sponsored insurrection by armed civilians against an invader in support of action by army and the regular forces of allies. 14 This phenomenon was observed during the Napoleonic period where enormous armies that were raised using conscripts led to overwhelmed defending states to adopt another means of war by arming their people. 15 When a state has to wage a Peoples War, the significance of irrational forces heightens and the interplay amongst the three components of Clausewitzs trinity become more distinct. In the light of this discussion, it implies that the irrational elements in war can be referred to both the human actors of Clausewitzs trinity, predominantly the people, and also, what Clausewitz called it, the blind natural force of primordial violence, hatred and enmity. 16 Friction, Chance and UncertaintyThe concepts of chance, uncertainty and clangoring can hardly be examined independent of each other. When Clausewitz himself introduced friction, he brought in chance as the give away subject to friction in war This tremendous friction cannotbe reduced to a few points, is everywhere in contact with chance, and brings about do that cannot be measured, just because they are largely due to chance. 17 For Clausewitz, friction is neither extrinsic nor abnormal18 it is the reflection of the cause in the real world.Friction can be generation internally within the military machine19, as in physics, and externally by the collision of two opposing armies. 20 Thus with the concept of friction, Clausewitz conveyed that one can never fully anticipate how the battle will unfold, and it is only by dint of a good military system and the strong will of the commander that friction in war can be counteracted. 21 Throughout On War, apart from Clausewitzs pervasive mention of chance, its definition can nowhere be found.Beyerchen aptly brought in the three forms of chance conceived by the late nineteenth-century mathematician, Henri Poincare, to explain Clausewitzs interpretation of chance. The first form is a statistical random phenomenon whereby Clausewitz referred to the position of possibility in a commanders assessment. While some statistical analysis can be used, this form of chance requires the judgment of an undergo commander in war. The second form is the amplification of a microcause, where Poincare explained on a system point of view that certain deterministic system can cause disproportionately large effects at later time.Clausewitz work has embedded this idea in his very articulation on uncertainty and friction where the various contact of chance at the micro level, which may be concealed, can develop and produce effects at the macro level. The third form is the function of analytical blindness which is a result of simplifying the real world phenomena by people and making war seems like a linear concept instead of a complex and nonlinear state of affairs22.With all the complexities involved, Clausewitz stress ed that the play of chance goes beyond the commanders simple calculation of probability to a need for an intuition that allows him to exploit chance to his advantage. Culmination of the Attack Clausewitz defined culminating point of the attack as the point where the attackers remaining intensity is just enough to maintain a defence and wait for peace. Moving beyond that point exposes the attacker to counterattack from the enemy with a force that is usually much stronger than that of the original attack. 23According to Clausewitz, losses will usually be greater than the gains in an attack. As the army advanced, its lines of communication will be stretched, forces will be pulled aside to control areas and other situations may be developed which will turn against the attacker. 24 As a result, the attacker has to stop at some point to rest and adopt a defensive posture for a period of time before proceeding. This is the point where the commander has to decide and exercise his imagina tion, as Clausewitz concluded, what matters therefore is to detect the culminating point with discriminative judgement. 25 Center of GravityAntulio J. Echevarria II, a lieutenant colonel in the U. S. Army, observed that center of gravity ( sprocket wheel) appeared more than fifty times in On War, and explained Clausewitzs conceptualization of the centre of gravity as being based on mechanical sciences, just as he had conceived his possibility on friction. 26 Clausewitz described roll as a focal point, the hub of all power and movement, on which everything depends. 27 By this, which is often misunderstood, he does not mean that the sprocket wheel is the source of power. In fact, it is the centralizing function that holds power system together, and in some cases give them purpose and direction.Clausewitz qualified that CoG is valid only when the enemy, whether a single state or an alliance of states, have a certain unity and therefore some cohesion. 29 When the enemys CoG is identif ied, Clausewitz advocates that all energies should be directed at this point to defeat the enemy. 30 Relevance of Clausewitzs Theories in the 21st Century Thus far, the paper has briefly construct a foundational understanding on present day warfare and some of Clausewitzs brilliant ideas. Already it is quite obvious that many of Clausewitzs thoughts still stand in present day context and are potentially applicable in 4GW.This proposition is contrary to what many critics have suggested On War as bloodthirsty, guide and obsolete. 31 These comments can easily be dispelled because they are often made on the superficial understanding that went little beyond the textual analysis of the book, and often built upon erroneous readings from others. Nevertheless, the fact remains that On War was written almost two centuries ago where the political, social, economic and technological evolutions of today could not be foreseen by Clausewitz.Therefore, in order to render Clausewitz his deserved place in the todays modern age of technology, the following discussion on his ideas and concepts will not be critical towards the material changes in the 21st Century. Significance of Irrational Elements in 4GW It is axiomatic that conflicts nation-states engage in today relate closely the effects from irrational elements. Following the September 11 attacks, the world saw invasions into Afghanistan in 2001 followed by Iraq in 2003 by coalition forces.In the case of Operation enduring Freedom (the war in Afghanistan), the cause of war stemmed from worldwide public uproar and support to root-out terror. Given the mandate by the people, the governments gain legitimacy and political will to commit their armed forces to the enduring global war on terror (GWOT). On the other hand, Operation Iraqi Freedom presented a case of unconvincing invasion of Iraq. As seen from how the operation unfolded, the war lost its popularity amongst the populace due to controversies that were presented as a result of the prolonged and seemingly unremitting war.Pressures began to be exerted by the public on their governments to draw down their armed forces involvement. After three years of coalition occupation in Iraq, it was found that mass of the British and Canadian people believed that the war in Iraq was unjustified. 32 A poll behavioured on by the BBC World Service in January 2007 had also shown that 73% of the world population was against the handling of the Iraq War by the U. S. 33 It is thus arguable that the large-scale withdrawal of coalition forces which followed in 2009 was largely a result of public disapproval.Therein, it aptly demonstrated the significance of irrational elements, even in the context of the GWOT. Another noteworthy case in the GWOT will be the utility of force by terrorists. Their strategy resembles the Peoples War which Clausewitz described. Despite being technologically and numerically inferior, Taliban operatives in Afghanistan are able to capitali ze on the people, the natives of the land, to solicit like-mindedness through provocation and propaganda of the deed. 34 Until the NATO coalition is able to sever linkages between the terrorists and the natives, a repeat of the U. S. efeat in Vietnam War remains in prospect.This is an arduous task but however is in progress. It is thus clear that irrational elements of both sides (own and the native population) have to be part of the strategic and operational considerations in the 4GW. Without due considerations to pacify and buy-over the irrational elements will result in an unbalance trinity and ultimate defeat. Influence of the CoG in 4GW The wide recognition and various adaptations by various militaries of the CoG concept allow this paper to further examine on how this concept influenced the conduct of modern wars.If the current war in Afghanistan is a Peoples War, like the paper has suggested, the native population becomes a logical focus. Indeed, the new strategy adopted by N ATO since 2010 has placed the Afghan people as the CoG in this conflict. 35 Two of the main thrusts announced by NATOs Supreme Allied Commander, Admiral James Stavridis include the protection of the Afghan people and to conduct effective strategic communication to win their hearts and minds. 36 Correspondingly, the U. S. s Af-Pak strategy that is in effect since early 2009 also focuses on the protection of Afghan people as a top agenda.Over the past one year, U. S. counterinsurgency (COIN) efforts have been more deliberate in their intelligence gathering and analysis to arrest that the most appropriate actions are taken, even at the lowest tactical level. In essence, the enhanced intelligence work effectively supports the traditional hunt-the-enemy role and at the same time, prevents unnecessary collateral damage thereby keeping the population safe. 38 With this brief account of the coalition effort in Afghanistan, it suffices to show that tremendous energies from all levels are di rected at the CoG.Therefore, it can be concluded that the CoG concept remains relevant in 4GW and once it is identified, it produces consequential downstream effects that influences operations at the operational and tactical levels. Relevance of Friction, Chance and Uncertainty in the Technological World While it was earlier noted that Clausewitz would not have envisaged the technological development of today, his arguments on the variables of war friction, chance and uncertainty had not been altered.In fact, the element of uncertainty has now been compounded by the introduction of a new dynamic variable technology itself. The advancement of technology has brought about chain of effects, impacting the social, political, bureaucratic, managerial and psychological systems. All these caused a quantum jump in the complexness of warfare. 39 Correspondingly, this led to the increased specialization and compartmentalization of the military which in turn create internal friction.If the c ontact with chance creates friction, like what Clausewitz suggested, with the existing military technologies today that enable longer range communication and observation capabilities, the amount of contact with chance increases and hence friction from external sources. Take for instance, intelligence collection with so much information that can be acquired with the use of todays technology, that is far from being unreliable as during Clausewitzs time, the commander may be overwhelmed and become paralyzed just by trying to sift the relevant data from the trivial ones.As Clausewitz put it, We now know more, but this makes us more, not less uncertain. 41 While technology today may have eradicated many of the old-time difficulties, it created new problems. Among the problems, include a tendency of over-reliance on technology which may hinder the development of intuition and readiness to accept risk,42 the qualities of commander that are necessary to exploit chance and counter friction. Hence, in todays military context, friction that arises from both external and internal sources should be dealt with.