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About the work

Clausewitz in the Twenty-First Century (ISBN 9780199232024) examines how Carl von Clausewitz’s enduring theories of war and strategy illuminate contemporary conflicts, geopolitics, and military ethics. This timely volume revisits Clausewitz’s enduring questions about chance, friction, and the political purpose of war, translating them for modern readers across a range of national contexts and security challenges.

Summary

Across its essays and analyses, the book interrogates Clausewitzian concepts such as the trinity, the nature of war, and the relationship between policy and force, applying them to issues from interstate competition and hybrid warfare to counterinsurgency and civil-military relations. It argues that Clausewitz remains a flexible, critical tool for understanding how states navigate uncertainty, adapt to technological innovation, and manage moral and political constraints in conflict. The volume blends historical grounding with contemporary case studies, offering principled frameworks alongside nuanced, real-world applications.

About the authors

Hew Strachan, a leading international historian of war and security, and Andreas Herberg-Rothe, a noted theorist of military strategy and ethics, authoritative voices whose collaboration bridges scholarly depth with practical insight. Strachan contributes his expansive command of comparative military history and strategic analysis, while Herberg-Rothe complements this with rigorous ethical and philosophical critique of modern warfare. Together, they curate a collection that is both academically rigorous and accessible to practitioners, policymakers, and students alike.

In brief

The book reaffirms Clausewitz as a living instrument for analyzing contemporary war, emphasizing the enduring relevance of his insights into politics, chance, and human judgment in an ever-evolving security landscape.

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