September 17-21, 2007. The Political Theory of Carl von Clausewitz
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Teaching Personnel
Prof. Dr. Christopher Daase - Ludwig Maximilians Universität
The Political Theory of Carl von Clausewitz
It has become fashionable to negate the relevance of Clausewitz and his thinking for understand-ing today’s wars and militarized conflicts. The changing nature of war, it is said, renders his con-cepts and ideas obsolete and turns his philosophy of war into a dangerously outdated ideology.
Many of these allegations can be attributed to intellectual ignorance. It is well known that Clause-witz is more often cited than read. He simply stands for a particular image of war which has con-solidated through continued misinterpretation of his writings despite a number of attempts to cor-rect such errors. But even authors who defend Clausewitz do so by attacking the critics rather than by pointing out Clausewitz’ analytical strengths. A more compelling strategy would be to de-monstrate that the new forms of warfare precisely prove Clausewitz’ relevance and that his ideas about Peoples War allow a more sophisticated approach to political violence than provided by his critics.
This is what the seminar attempts to do. Students will be asked to engage in a thorough reading and interpretation of Clausewitz’ opus magnum “On War” and to investigate his relevance for un-derstanding today’s wars. It will be shown, that (1) Clausewitz provides a superior conceptualiza-tion of political violence that allows describing historical and recent changes of war, including the emergence of guerrilla warfare and terrorism; (2) Clausewitz offers fresh insights into the dyna-mics of unconventional warfare and the dialectic of offence and defence which help to explain why actors apply certain strategies and tactics; (3) Clausewitz allows reflecting on the effects of small wars which explain why big states often loose small wars.
Many of these allegations can be attributed to intellectual ignorance. It is well known that Clause-witz is more often cited than read. He simply stands for a particular image of war which has con-solidated through continued misinterpretation of his writings despite a number of attempts to cor-rect such errors. But even authors who defend Clausewitz do so by attacking the critics rather than by pointing out Clausewitz’ analytical strengths. A more compelling strategy would be to de-monstrate that the new forms of warfare precisely prove Clausewitz’ relevance and that his ideas about Peoples War allow a more sophisticated approach to political violence than provided by his critics.
This is what the seminar attempts to do. Students will be asked to engage in a thorough reading and interpretation of Clausewitz’ opus magnum “On War” and to investigate his relevance for un-derstanding today’s wars. It will be shown, that (1) Clausewitz provides a superior conceptualiza-tion of political violence that allows describing historical and recent changes of war, including the emergence of guerrilla warfare and terrorism; (2) Clausewitz offers fresh insights into the dyna-mics of unconventional warfare and the dialectic of offence and defence which help to explain why actors apply certain strategies and tactics; (3) Clausewitz allows reflecting on the effects of small wars which explain why big states often loose small wars.
Contact
Cristina Di Gioia
Tel +39 041 2719511
Fax +39 041 2719510
