Does War Change

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Does war change? I would argue that the character of war, who is fighting it, the technology available and how it is applied definitely changes from conflict to conflict. But the nature of war does not change. As Colin Gray has said, “War is war and strategy is strategy regardless of historical periods.” No one theorist’s ideas stand the test of time, but Carl von Clausewitz’s theory of war remains the best description of the nature of war, who’s “ideas possess a transcendent quality that makes them relevant not only to this era but always." Perhaps Clausewitz’s works remain timeless because he was not concerned with giving his readers prescriptions on how to fight wars, but wanted to deeply understand the nature of war. A simple contrast…show more content…
War, or in a more modern sense the military, is but one element of national power alongside diplomacy, information, and economic power. States should wield all these powers in concert to achieve their political objectives and must assign military objectives synchronized with the other elements of national power. As Joint Publication 1, Doctrine for the Armed Forces of the United States, tells us, “The USG’s [United States Government’s] ability to achieve its national strategic objectives depends on employing the instruments of national power…in effective combination and all possible situations from peace to war.” In other words, the synchronized application of all elements of national power will achieve the political objective. Therefore national leaders tie the military objective to the political objective. Also, political leaders must receive more than just military opinions on the conduct of the conflict. Clausewitz’s shares this view, stating “a major military development, or the plan for one, should be a matter for purely military opinion is unacceptable and can be…show more content…
As states attempt to use and synchronize all elements of national power in conflicts, we may see this part of the trinity used by other departments of the United States government. Clausewitz was describing how uncertainty and chance provide opportunity to the military commander while engaged in war. But you could theorize national leaders using this same uncertainty and chance in diplomacy and informational elements of national power to win a conflict in conjunction with military power, especially in an irregular or limited war. Also, today’s pervasive media environment provides material to diplomatic and informational leaders to seize and create
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