- QUESTION
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Module 2
In a short paragraph or two, post on this module's discussion board response to this prompt: Clausewitz argued that any theory of war must account for the forces of enmity, chance and reason; what he labeled the paradoxical trinity. Is there utility in the understanding conflict in the 21st Century with this construct?
| Subject | History | Pages | 8 | Style | APA |
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Answer
The Paradoxical Trinity and the 21ts Century Conflict
Carl von Clausewitz, a Prussian general and a military theorist, is recognized worldwide for his in-depth analysis of the nature of war. Instead of just providing information on the principles of war, he went further to provide a well detailed model that conceptualizes the very nature of war and termed this model the Paradoxical Trinity. The model is composed of primordial violence and enmity, chance and probability, reason and rational thought (Howard & Paret, 1984). Contained herein is an analysis of whether or not the above construct of war by Clausewitz provides utility in the understanding of conflict in the 21st Century.
The paradoxical trinity provides infinite utility in the understanding of conflict in the21st Century. The nature of war is dynamic. Conflict in the 21st Century, unlike in the past, no longer depends on the capacity to inflict destruction on the enemy, but on the ability to wrestle popular support away from one’s opponents (Schuurman, 2010). Furthermore, conflicts in the21st Century are no longer controlled by States, but rather groups which identify themselves in terms of religion, tribe, and ethnicity among other factors. Moreover, the signing of the United Nations Charter outlawed the unsanctioned use of force by a state except in the case of individual self-defense or to restore world order under specific authority of the Security Council (Supervielle, 2004). Thus, in understanding the 21st Century conflict, one may be tempted to dismiss Clausewitz’s arguments as obsolete and not applicable. However, a close examination of his work reveals that Clausewitz’s arguments point to the fact that the fundamental nature of conflict does not change whether in history or in the 21st Century. As Schuurman (2010) describes it, all entities in conflict are subject to the interplay of the forces of enmity, chance and reason. Every human being, in their daily decision-making process, considers not only their emotions and reasons for their actions, but also the chances present to them. As such, even in conflict, these three fundamental factors are present. Therefore, we can confidently conclude that, the construct of war by Clausewitz involving the forces of enmity, chance and reason provides infinite utility in the understanding of conflict in the21st Century.
In conclusion, Carl von Clausewitz presented a model that provides knowledge on the nature of war. The model is composed of primordial violence and enmity, chance and probability, reason and rational thought. Although conflict in the 21st Century may be different from historical conflict as it lacks the element of inflicting mass destruction, the fundamental nature involving an interplay of the forces of enmity, chance and reason remains the same. Thus, the construct of war by Clausewitz provides infinite utility in the understanding of conflict in the21st Century.
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References
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Howard, M., & Paret, P. (Eds.). (1984). Carl von Clausewitz on war. Princeton University Press. Schuurman, B. (2010). Clausewitz and the" new wars" scholars. Parameters, 40(1), 89. Supervielle, M. E. (2004). 101 Uses for the Paradoxical Trinity. National War Coll Washington DC.
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