Sun Tzu: Theorist for the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

What strategic theory and theorist should the United States military adopt to conduct war in the 21st century? Theories of war provide insight into problem solving regarding war and the use of military force. Right now senior leaders are discussing this question in the hallways of the White House and Pentagon. In an environment in which the United States dominates the world stage, theorists argue that future wars involving our great military powers will be unbalanced or asymmetrical. If current and future adversaries are predicted to perform unconventional and asymmetric warfare, the United States must reexamine its current warfare theory. This Strategic Research Project proposes that Sun Tzu's theory of indirect warfare is the most relevant to 21st century warfare. To successfully counter current national security threats, 21st century military strategists should rely on Sun Tzu as their primary theorist. His writings are as pertinent today as they were thousands of years ago.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA518426

Entities

People

  • Gregory L. Wilcoxon

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Asymmetric Warfare
  • Attrition
  • Department Of Defense
  • Education
  • Governments
  • Human Intelligence
  • Intelligence Collection
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • Iraqi-War
  • National Security
  • Security
  • Terrorists
  • United States
  • United States Government
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.