Waging Peace: The Clausewitzian Dimensions of Peace Enforcement Operations

Abstract

As a treatise on human behavior, Clausewitz' classic On War provides insights that we can apply to a variety of fields beyond the battlefield (e.g., policy, management, education). Without taking the master too far astray, the aim of this paper is to see what lessons we can draw from Clausewitz' theoretical framework pertaining to one of the most prominent and controversial uses of U.S. military force in the post-Cold War era, peace enforcement operations. This paper argues that there is much we can understand about peace enforcement operations (PEO) from a Clausewitzian point of view. Not only does Clausewitz' analysis of war have much in common with this form of 'non-war', but his approach also helps bring into focus the tensions between the political and military objectives of PEO. In particular, this offers us a new perspective on the problems of PEO termination planning and the military's unease in performing these missions.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2000
Accession Number
ADA432772

Entities

People

  • Ron Moore

Organizations

  • National War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Cold War
  • Combat Operations
  • Department Of Defense
  • Doctrine
  • Ear
  • Education
  • Human Behavior
  • Military Operations
  • Military Science
  • Military Strategy
  • National Security
  • Security
  • Students
  • United States
  • Universities
  • Violence
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Strategic Security Studies