In Rebooting Clausewitz: On War in the 21st Century, Christopher J. Coker aims to show how Carl von Clausewitz’s 1832 classic On War still contains important insights for our contemporary moment. While modern readers may not always agree with Clausewitz’s arguments, this work offers a good starting point for identifying elements that can illuminate discussions of war and peace today, finds Roberto A. Castelar. Rebooting Clausewitz: On War in the 21st Century. Christopher J. Coker. Hurst. 2017

Castelar, Roberto A.

LSE Research Online

Book	Review:	Rebooting	Clausewitz:	On	War	in	the21st	Century	by	Christopher	J.	CokerIn	Rebooting	Clausewitz:	On	War	in	the	21st	Century,	Christopher	J.	Coker	aims	to	show	how	Carl	vonClausewitz’s	1832	classic	On	War	still	contains	important	insights	for	our	contemporary	moment.	While	modernreaders	may	not	always	agree	with	Clausewitz’s	arguments,	this	work	offers	a	good	starting	point	for	identifyingelements	that	can	illuminate	discussions	of	war	and	peace	today,	finds	Roberto	A.	Castelar.	Rebooting	Clausewitz:	On	War	in	the	21st	Century.	Christopher	J.	Coker.	Hurst.	2017.Find	this	book:	Carl	von	Clausewitz’s	On	War	(1832)	is	considered	one	of	the	most	importantclassical	works	on	the	philosophy	of	war.	It	is	a	difficult	and	dense	book	that	fewdare	to	explore	entirely,	but	many	of	its	ideas	have	become	widely	known,principally	that	famous	aphorism:	‘war	is	the	continuation	of	politics	by	other	means’.However,	it	could	be	suggested	that,	at	first	sight,	the	relevance	of	this	work	ismerely	historical.	The	phenomenon	of	war	has	been	radically	transformed	sinceClausewitz’s	time:	how	could	his	ideas	remain	significant	in	an	age	of	nucleardeterrence	and	asymmetrical	warfare?Christopher	Coker’s	Rebooting	Clausewitz:	On	War	in	the	21st	Century	aims	atconvincing	us	that	On	War	still	contains	important	insights	for	our	times.	The	primaryaudience	of	the	book	seems	to	be	students	at	defence	colleges,	but	its	style	isfriendly	to	non-specialists	and	may	prove	illuminating	for	any	reader.	Cokerdevelops	his	argument	through	three	fictional	dialogues	in	which	Clausewitz	ismade	to	discuss	aspects	of	On	War	and	recent	military	events,	such	as	the	wars	inAfghanistan	and	Iraq,	with	contemporary	military	scholars	and	students.	These	are	supplemented	by	short	essaysabout	Clausewitz’s	life	and	relevance.Coker	avoids	the	tendencies	of	both	scholars	who	treat	Clausewitz	as	the	last	word	in	military	topics	and	thosewho	dismiss	him	out-of-hand.	Clausewitz,	he	argues,	is	relevant	because	‘he	knew	more	about	war	than	anyoneelse’	(xiv),	and	because	there	are	points	in	On	War	that	have	not	been	properly	explored.	He	goes	on	todemonstrate	how	many	of	Clausewitz’s	observations	seem	to	be	confirmed	by	modern	sciences,	such	as	socialpsychology,	evolutionary	biology,	cognitive	science	and	even	business	strategy.	Yet,	he	is	ready	to	admit	thatClausewitz’s	theory	is	incomplete,	and	this	is	often	attributed	to	the	state	of	science	in	his	time,	especially	theabsence	of	Charles	Darwin’s	theory	of	evolution	(70).LSE Review of Books: Book Review: Rebooting Clausewitz: On War in the 21st Century by Christopher J. Coker Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-11-20Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/11/20/book-review-rebooting-clausewitz-on-war-in-the-21st-century-by-christopher-j-coker/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/Image	Credit:	Red	Cross	Bookshop,	2008	(Qtea	CC	BY	2.0)The	structure	of	the	book	is	easy	to	follow,	but	there	are,	in	my	view,	a	number	of	shortcomings	in	style.	The	initialtheme	of	the	fictional	dialogues,	the	uses	of	a	theory,	is	rather	too	abstract;	the	discussion	about	the	essence	andcharacter	of	war	or	the	theme	of	the	Napoleonic	wars	would	have	been	a	better	start.	The	flow	of	the	topics	is	abit	disorganised	and	Coker	tends	to	digress	from	the	main	discussion	without	necessity,	even	if	the	reader	mayfind	these	highly	informative.	But	the	shortcomings	are	balanced	by	rich	content.	Coker	displays	an	impressiveknowledge	of	many	advances	in	modern	sciences,	and	this	is	coupled	with	engaging	illustrations	taken	fromcontemporary	English	literature.Overall,	Coker	is	successful	in	connecting	many	elements	of	Clausewitz’s	work	with	contemporary	debates,	andin	showing	how	these	elements	might	illuminate	our	discussions,	even	if	we	might	not	agree	with	Clausewitz’scontributions.	One	of	the	most	interesting	points	is	the	claim	that	Clausewitz	has,	in	fact,	much	to	tell	us	aboutguerrilla	and	asymmetrical	wars	(85),	despite	the	differences	between	his	and	our	times.	Clausewitz	is	alsoshown	to	be	highly	relevant	for	the	problem	of	the	relation	between	theory	and	practice:	not	only	for	peopleinvolved	in	the	military,	but	for	everyone.	He	rejected	the	imposition	of	rigid	theoretical	systems	upon	reality,stressing	the	uncertainty	of	the	world	but	also	insisting	on	the	necessity	of	theories	as	guides	for	action.There	are	some	issues	of	interpretation.	Coker	sees	Clausewitz	as	standing	firmly	in	the	Enlightenment	tradition,given	his	belief	in	human	autonomy	and	progress	and	his	dependence	on	Immanuel	Kant,	although	he	admitssome	influence	of	the	Romantic	movement,	particularly	in	regard	to	the	impact	of	human	psychology.	However,	Ithink	that	Clausewitz’s	emphasis	on	history,	the	particular,	experience	and	uncertainty	are	less	characteristic	ofthe	mainstream	Enlightenment	tradition	than	other	competing	traditions,	even	if	Clausewitz	eschewed	themysticism	and	emotionalism	of	the	Romantics.	But	this	question	is	not,	of	course,	necessarily	related	toClausewitz’s	contemporary	relevance.A	more	difficult	aspect	concerns	Clausewitz’s	relation	to	the	ethics	of	war.	Most	of	us	modern	readers	do	notargue	so	much	about	why	the	US	failed	in	Afghanistan	and	Iraq;	we	argue	more	about	whether	these	wars	weremorally	permissible,	we	strive	for	a	world	in	which	they	are	prevented	and	we	care	for	the	human	sufferinggenerated	by	them.	But	these	concerns	do	not	have	much	space	in	On	War.	How	could	it	help	us	in	ourdeliberations?	About	Clausewitz’s	silence	on	human	suffering	in	war,	Coker	cautions	us	not	to	judge	the	people	ofthe	past	according	to	present	concerns	(10),	which	is	certainly	good	advice,	but	not	a	convincing	reason	to	thinkthat	their	thought	is	relevant	to	us.LSE Review of Books: Book Review: Rebooting Clausewitz: On War in the 21st Century by Christopher J. Coker Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-11-20Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/11/20/book-review-rebooting-clausewitz-on-war-in-the-21st-century-by-christopher-j-coker/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/Regarding	the	ethics	of	war,	a	more	sophisticated	explanation	is	nonetheless	given.	Clausewitz	is	as	muchconcerned	about	the	control	of	war	as	modern	readers	may	be,	but	he	represents	an	alternative	approach:	he	isnot	interested	in	judging	war	according	to	timeless	moral	principles,	but	rather	in	showing	how	war	develops	inpractice	and	in	illustrating	what	we	can	do	about	that.	According	to	him,	it	is	through	politics	that	we	can	preventwar	from	escalating	and	control	it	(26).	He	approached	then	what	we,	roughly	speaking,	would	call	‘realism’today.	However,	this	take	on	the	issue	might	not	be	appealing	for	those	of	us	who	remain	committed	to	generalmoral	principles	to	judge	war	regardless	of	place	or	time.But	Clausewitz’s	central	insight	about	the	role	of	politics	in	preventing	the	escalation	of	conflicts	and	putting	limitsto	military	action	might	still	be	very	useful.	As	Coker	shows,	despite	his	widespread	fame,	this	role	of	politics	inClausewitz	has	not	been	seriously	considered,	even	in	very	recent	conflicts	(117).	Politics	is	often	said	to	endwhere	conflicts	start;	wars	are	seen	as	the	result	of	the	failure	of	politics.	Clausewitz	states	that	they	arecontinuous,	but	this	does	not	only	mean	that	politics	is	often	to	be	blamed	for	war,	but	also	that	we	can	usepolitics	to	control	and	contain	it.It	is	certainly	a	point	that	needs	to	be	reworked	–	by	‘politics’	Clausewitz	did	not	mean	‘democratic	politics’	as	wewould	likely	mean	it	–	but	it	can	still	orientate	our	deliberations	about	the	character	and	future	of	war	and	peace.This	fact	demonstrates	that,	even	if	we	perceive	a	great	distance	between	our	public	discussions	about	war	andClausewitz’s	concerns,	there	are	elements	in	his	work	that	we	can	expand,	develop	and	modify	to	benefit	our	ownpurposes,	and	Coker’s	book	is	a	good	starting	point	for	identifying	these.Roberto	A.	Castelar	is	a	graduate	from	the	Central	European	University	in	Budapest.	He	specialises	in	PoliticalTheory	and	the	History	of	Modern	Political	Thought.	Read	more	by	Roberto	A.	Castelar.Note:	This	review	gives	the	views	of	the	author,	and	not	the	position	of	the	LSE	Review	of	Books	blog,	or	of	theLondon	School	of	Economics.	LSE Review of Books: Book Review: Rebooting Clausewitz: On War in the 21st Century by Christopher J. Coker Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-11-20Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/11/20/book-review-rebooting-clausewitz-on-war-in-the-21st-century-by-christopher-j-coker/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/

Book review: rebooting Clausewitz: on war in the 21st century by Christopher J. Coker

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