Allies and alliances are deeply embedded in Clausewitz’s theory of war. Allies are a live and reactive means that may shift throughout a war. Alliances, often responsive to the balance of power, harness allies as a dynamic means. Both problematize Clausewitz’s initial, dual conception of war; they embody uncertainty and inject Politik. To account for allies and alliances entails reevaluating three fundamental Clausewitzian premises: that the defense is the stronger form of war; that the status quo has inertia; and that war has duration. Ultimately, any comprehensive view of Clausewitz’s theory of war demands the inclusion of allies and alliances.
The philosophy on which the Marine Corps’ seminal warfighting doctrine is based rests on a tradition of professional military scholarship that reaches back to Carl von Clausewitz’s treatise On War. Clausewitz’s lesser-known and often-misunderstood Guide to Tactics, republished here for the first time as a standalone English text with critical annotations, serves as the foundation of the Marine Corps’ warfighting philosophy and provides a guide to thinking about the nature of tactics and combat for the modern warfighter.
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