Pure War and Real War

Abstract

Clausewitz’s three perspectives on war as fighting, contest and policy focus on human behaviour that influences the course of events: how men fight, how generals conduct strategy and how statesmen pursue policy. But war is also shaped by the wider context: the nature of politics within and between states, forms of government, the structure of societies, the economy of nations, the level of civilisation, military institutions and the development of technology. This is Clausewitz’s most comprehensive view of war – as a social activity.

‘But move from the abstract to the real world, and the whole thing looks quite different’. [78]