While perusing the on-line strategy articles, I could not help but notice that there were no less than three articles applying Sun-Tzu's Art of War to Diplomacy, but there was a distinct lack of Clausewitz's teachings on the subject. I thought this a bit odd, since Clausewitz's On War is generally considered to be the most conclusive and influential work ever written on the subject of armed conflict. This is not to say that Sun-Tzu does not have his uses - for one thing, he is highly quotable, and thus is very popular with people seeking pithy phrases to throw about. Clausewitz's importance, on the other hand, arises from the very fact that his analysis is too detailed and complete to be reduced to simple sequence of rules or principles. Keeping this in mind, I have decided to compile a series of eight articles, each focusing on one book of On War, which will seek to apply Clausewitz's analysis to the art of war in Diplomacy.

[Editor's note: these articles are the first in a series of eight articles on a theme. The remaining articles will appear in the S1996R issue of the Zine.]

Joseph Wheeler ([email protected])

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