To what extent is the clausewitzian account of war a political instrument relevant in the twenty-first century ?

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

5 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

01/28/2005

Category :

Political science

Sub category :

Political science

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Summary :

Introduction
The exact meaning of the term 'politics'
The Clausewitzian account of war
The Clausewitzian trinitarian structure of the army
War as an effective instrument of a policy
Conclusion
Bibliography

Abstract

Clausewitz's description of war as a means to an end or, to use his own formulation, "the continuation of politics by other means", must be interpreted against the contemporary intellectual background: the majority of enlightenment writers had regarded war as an aberration, an interruption of political intercourse, the point where human reason came to an end . This view can be said to have influenced the actual conduct of war in as much as most eighteenth-century commanders tried to make war in a cautious, "civilised" manner while minimising the damage to the environment . Thus, when Clausewitz insisted that war was simply one of the forms taken on by political intercourse, that it was a language of politics that should be formulated on the basis of carefully assessed cost-benefit analysis, he was making a new and important point.