Chaos, Clausewwitz, Friction and Command

Abstract

In his great work ON WAR, Clausewitz struggled with this concept that he called friction . He used this term to describe things that happen in battle that cannot have been foreseen or planned for and which cause the commander to make decisions about events that he did not anticipate. It called for him to possess something he called genius in order to overcome these events. I will argue in this paper that the friction that he describes is intrinsic in the modern mathematical theory of Chaos, that its effects are manifested in war at both the tactical and strategic levels, and that the creative and non-linear thinking leader, the genius, is just as important now, as he was in the 19th century.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 02, 1998
Accession Number
ADA442708

Entities

People

  • Paul R. Manley

Organizations

  • National War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Chain Reactions
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Computer Simulations
  • Computers
  • Friction
  • Instructors
  • Intelligent Agents
  • Judgment
  • National Security
  • Nonlinear Dynamics
  • Nonlinear Systems
  • Rhode Island
  • Simulations
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • War Games
  • Warfare

Readers

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