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To: Wombat101

Ah yes, another Clausewitz denier.... you have had your day since 1945. Not much longer, though ....


37 posted on 07/01/2005 10:56:18 PM PDT by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: GOP_1900AD

Clausewitz is out-dated.


38 posted on 07/01/2005 10:57:51 PM PDT by durasell (Friends are so alarming, My lover's never charming...)
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To: GOP_1900AD

I suggest you read "A HIstory of Warfare" by John Keegan to get a really good understanding of just what I'm talking about.

In a nutshell however, Clauswitz was writing "On War" from a very limited perspective, i.e. as a 19th century European, influenced by the Napoleonic Wars and the rise of the German state. His theories do not take into account the fact that people fight for reasons other than politics and economics.

Clauswitz could not even make a full assessment of his subject, since the sciences of sociology, anthropology, economics and political science, were either non-existant or in their infancy. All are mitigating or aggravating factors in warfare.

Finally, Clauswitz's main contention that "War is the continuation of politics by other means" is very often reversible (i.e. Politics is the continuation of war by other means). The best example fo this dictum I can think of would be the Cold War.


43 posted on 07/02/2005 6:23:05 AM PDT by Wombat101 (Sanitized for YOUR protection...)
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