Center of Gravity within the Ill-Structured Problem

Abstract

Our currently military planning processes center around Clausewitz's theory of a center of gravity. We spend countless hours debating in an attempt to find the true center of gravity toward which all our actions should be directed to achieve the stated objective. It is important to note that Clausewitz developed his center of gravity concept out of his own experiences, mostly during the Napoleonic War, a time in which traditional armies met on the battlefield pitting their forces against one another. This paper explores the center of gravity concept and whether or not it applies to today's socially complex, ill-structured problems as it did within the context of a traditional force-on-force conflict, or what would be referred to as a structured problem.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 04, 2012
Accession Number
ADA563889

Entities

People

  • Chad Livingston

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Center Of Gravity
  • Department Of Defense
  • Doctrine
  • Education
  • Governments
  • Military Education
  • Military Operations
  • Military Planning
  • Military Science
  • Social Problems
  • Students
  • Systems Approach
  • Training
  • United States
  • United States Central Command
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Agent-Based Social Robotics and Mobile-Assisted Learning in Virtual Environments.
  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies
  • Strategic Security Studies