Carl Von Clausewitz: Hope and Fear

Abstract

To sample US understanding of Clausewitz, the paper analyzes how US doctrine uses three concepts from On War: the dual nature of war, the center of gravity, and the culminating point of victory. The analysis shows how these concepts are superficial in US doctrine compared to On War. The centerpiece of the analysis ties these concepts together using the idea that limited and unlimited war have points of irreconcilability. If these points are violated, the operational commander risks turning war into something alien to its nature. The conclusion is that US doctrine provides a misleading version of Clausewitz's intent. The potential exists for operational commanders to apply poor judgement using these concepts--and this potential is growing worse. Recommendations are made to change basic US military doctrine to improve the operational commander's understanding of Clausewitz's ideas.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 13, 1992
Accession Number
ADA249847

Entities

People

  • Evan J. Hoapili

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Counter WMD

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Center Of Gravity
  • Cold War
  • Command And Control
  • Doctrine
  • Environment
  • Identification
  • Judgment
  • Military Doctrine
  • Military Operations
  • National Security
  • Security
  • Survival
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Weapons
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies