Book Review: The Transformation of War

From time to time (and as I finish them) I will attempt to write reviews of books that I read. I thought perhaps starting with a classic of military theory such as the Transformation of War would be a good place to start. Martin Van Creveld wrote this book in the pre-Global War on Terror world. This fact however does not lessen its impact in today's global environment. I would argue its prescience makes it even more relevant to policymakers.

Van Creveld's book looks at the world after WWII and sees that notion of state sponsored violence is on the decline, while Low Intensity Conflict (LIC) is on the rise. Van Creveld looks at modern conflict through the lens of Karl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz's seminal Vom Kreige (On War) and deconstructs Clausewitz using his model of Non-Trinitarian warfare. Van Creveld essentially states that as the threefold division of State, Military, and People theorized as the main components of warfare by Clausewitz breaks down in the face of globalization.

Each of the chapters in the book examines specific aspects of war and how they have changed from ancient times to the near future. For example, in the final Chapter of the book entitled "The Future of War", Van Creveld writes about what war will look like in the coming years. It is in this chapter that I found Van Creveld to be most prophetic. He sees conflict as we know it becoming obsolete. Modern strategy and tactics will have to be completely rethought. The rules of war (as they are understood through such international agreements as the Geneva convention) will be called into question as the definition of what a combatant is becomes more fluid. The correlations between this chapter and the current conundrums faced by governments across the globe are hard to ignore.

It is little wonder that The Transformation of War is on the US Army's list of required reading for officers. Van Creveld's articulate (and surprisingly readable) arguments against the militaries of the world continuing in the Clausewitzian tradition challenges military doctrine at its heart . The Transformation of War looks not only at the how war will change but why it will change as well.