Clausewitz's timeless Trinity: a framework for modern war

219 Pages·1.057 MB·English

by  Clausewitz, Carl von, Fleming, Colin M

Clausewitz’s timeless trinity
military strategy and Operational art
edited by Professor Howard m. Hensel, air war College, usa
the ashgate series on military strategy and Operational art analyzes and assesses
the synergistic interrelationship between joint and combined military operations,
national military strategy, grand strategy, and national political objectives in
peacetime, as well as during periods of armed conflict. In doing so, the series
highlights how various patterns of civil–military relations, as well as styles of
political and military leadership influence the outcome of armed conflicts. In
addition, the series highlights both the advantages and challenges associated with
the joint and combined use of military forces involved in humanitarian relief, nation
building, and peacekeeping operations, as well as across the spectrum of conflict
extending from limited conflicts fought for limited political objectives to total war
fought for unlimited objectives. Finally, the series highlights the complexity and
challenges associated with insurgency and counter-insurgency operations, as well
as conventional operations and operations involving the possible use of weapons
of mass destruction.
also in this series:
British Generals in Blair’s Wars
edited by Jonathan Bailey, richard iron and Hew strachan
isBn 978 1 4094 3735 2
Britain and the War on Terror
Policy, Strategy and Operations
warren Chin
isBn 978 0 7546 7780 2
Confrontation, Strategy and War Termination
Britain’s Conflict with Indonesia
Christopher tuck
isBn 978 1 4094 4630 9
Joining the Fray
Outside Military Intervention in Civil Wars
zachary C. shirkey
isBn 978 1 4094 2892 3
Russian Civil-Military Relations
robert Brannon
isBn 978 0 7546 7591 4
Clausewitz’s timeless trinity
a Framework For modern war
COlin m. Fleming
University of Edinburgh, UK
© Colin m. Fleming 2013
all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Colin m. Fleming has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
ashgate Publishing limited ashgate Publishing Company
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
a catalogue record for this book is available from the British library
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Fleming, Colin m.
Clausewitz’s timeless trinity : a framework for modern war / by Colin m.
Fleming.
pages cm. -- (military strategy and operational art)
includes bibliographical references and index.
isBn 978-1-4094-4287-5 (hardback) -- isBn 978-1-4094-4288-2 (ebook)
-- isBn 978-1-4094-7398-5 (epub) 1. Clausewitz, Carl von,
1780-1831. Vom Kriege 2. military art and science--Case studies. 3.
yugoslav war, 1991-1995. i. title.
u102.C6643F54 2013
355.02--dc23
2013014530
isBn 9781409442875 (hbk)
isBn 9781409442882 (ebk – PDF)
isBn 9781409473985 (ebk – ePuB)
III
To my lovely wife, Clairey
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Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
1 Clausewitz’s Enduring Legacy: Inspiration, and Methodology 25
2 Clausewitz and the Tale of Two Trinities 49
3 Hostility 79
4 ‘Chance and Uncertainty’ 111
5 Policy 139
Conclusion 171
Bibliography 195
Index 205
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the Max Weber Programme at the European University
Institute (EUI) for providing me with the intellectual stimulation and support
while writing this book. There are numerous people who also I need to thank.
I am especially grateful to Pascal Vennesson for providing me with the opportunity
to present and gain feedback from his class at the EUI. I would also like to take
the opportunity to thank my own students at Edinburgh University, to whom I
presented my ideas. Their thoughts and comments have added to my own insights
into Clausewitz and have made me reflect on my key arguments in this book.
There are several other people I need to thank and who at different times have
either proofread or provided ideas to my work. In particular, I would like to thank
Michael Williams, Steven Haines, Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen and Christopher
Coker; as well as David Barnes at the European University Institute, whose input
was invaluable. Thank you also to Jim Wyllie, who has provided me with greatly
appreciated support, as well as the time taken to read earlier drafts of this work.
Lastly, I owe a special thank you to my wife, Claire, brother, Malcolm, dad, Jim,
and mother, Margaret, and my good friend Lachie Nicolson, all of whom now
know a great more about Clausewitz than they ever thought they would.