Introduction to SIMADology

EXCERPT

Clausewitz is accorded the honour of being the pre-eminent theorist of war for, with him, the project of theorising war was so comprehensively enframed that what has since followed have been mere footnotes—the addition of details—that only serve to fill in the gaps that Clausewitz’s theory did not address. But this reification of the paradigmatic Clausewitzian theory of war also carries with it the implication that the regime of thought that guides our current theorisations on and of war is an archaic one. It is archaic not because one can trace its genealogy to at least the Age of Enlightenment, but because, in effect, its evolution had already come to an end with Clausewitz’ pioneering theorisation of war. In more recent times, this state of affairs has been reiterated in a positive light, with the assertion that, while the character of war may change over time, the principles of war are eternal…