The clash of the trinities : a new theoretical analysis of the general nature of war / Daniel Maurer.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Maurer, Daniel, Major, author.

Contributor:

Army War College (U.S.). Strategic Studies Institute, publisher.

Army War College (U.S.). Press, publisher.

Series:

Advancing strategic thought series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War (Philosophy).

Genre:

Online resources.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 112 pages) : illustrations (some color).

Other Title:

New theoretical analysis of the general nature of war

Place of Publication:

Carlisle, PA : Strategic Studies Institute and U.S. Army War College Press, 2017.

Summary:

"This monograph suggests that theories of warfare and descriptions of the evolving character of war cannot be complete without first giving credit to the nature of war itself. Looking at varied portrayals of war from literary, academic, military, and civilian strategist perspectives, this monograph offers a redefinition of 'war' as an investment in organized violence by parties interested in the extension, maintenance, or appearance of their power over an unspecified time, with an unknowable risk, for an uncertain reward. In drawing an analogy to painting, it suggests that 'choice' is the underlying axiomatic theme of war, and it that is replayed and adapted at every scale of warfare like a classical fugue. From there, this monograph pierces the interior of Clausewitz's 'trinity' description of war, and proposes that there are still more universal ways to describe conflict's breadth, depth, and context. This argument concludes that war is better understood when it is described as a 'clash of the trinities.' An ecology of war is proposed, in which fundamental components comprising fuel, biology, and interactions constitute a network or system undergoing entropy. It is this sense of entropy -- a tendency toward social and political discontinuity and disorder -- that chiefly describes war in all its varied guises and explains the political, social, and military efforts to avoid them, corral them, plan them, or fight them"--Publisher's web site.

Contents:

Introduction

There is no unified field theory

Reports and forecasts

Moving through and past Clausewitz

Listening for war's theme

Choice : in art and war

Clash of the trinities

Legitimizing conflict : let robbers become knights

A bounded horizon : means, motive, and opportunity

Authenticity

Moderation and restraints : a rucksack full of weights

Solving for entropy

Final thoughts.

Notes:

"September 2017."

Paper version available for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 91-112).

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (SSI, viewed September 15, 2017).

Other Format:

Maurer, Daniel, Major. Clash of the trinities

OCLC:

1003854611