WARNING: This is arguably one of the most hotly debated — and least well described — concepts in Clausewitz’s writing. The trinity is central to his analysis of war and defined the constantly changing relationship among: 1. primordial violence, hatred, and enmity, 2. chance and probability, and 3. war’s subordination to rational state policy. This tripartite and dynamic interplay of violent emotion, chance, and rational … Continue reading Winning and Losing Part II: Clausewitz’s Wondrous Trinity

As Canada’s PM, Pierre E. Trudeau single-mindedly drove the Canadian government to bring home our constitution. By the way, it was not repatriated. Our constitution was never here. It was patriated, but I digress. The process was not begun by the PM. It actually began in 1927, but the British parliament wasn’t interested until the Canadian provinces could agree on an amending formula. They couldn’t. … Continue reading The Wounding of the Great Republic

To an uninformed observer, the concept of winning a war or losing a war may seem straightforward. But war is not a board game like monopoly or checkers. Winning and losing are binary concepts that too often do not adequately describe what is happening in an armed conflict, whether it’s in a Russian oblast or a disputed Middle Eastern territory. A frequent question in many … Continue reading Winning and Losing (Part I)

I watched a news broadcast from Europe where the commentator said, “the US president has given Europe permission to shoot down Russian aircraft.” I stopped, wondered “wtf” and replayed it. Why on earth would ANY European country need — or care — whether a US president gave them “permission” to shoot down an intruder who violates sovereign air space? Here’s the point: they don’t BUT … Continue reading Hand Wringing and Pearl Clutching

If you are a student of William Butler Yeats (or Joni Mitchell) you will recognized the title as the first line of Yeats’ 1919 poem The Second Coming, where the Irish nationalist forecast doom, even as the world was trying with all its might to put the horrors of the First World War behind it. Had more Germans read Yeats poem, perhaps 1934 would have … Continue reading Turning and Turning in the Widening Gyre

My friend Martin Castellani (ex RCN) has introduced me to the world of podcasting and together we are launching a new YouTube channel called THE ENLIGHTENED MILITARY where we will discuss all sorts of topics and themes related to today’s military. First of what Marty and I hope will be an ongoing series. 29 mins (just audio).  No sponsors.  No commercials.  No cost.  Hope you … Continue reading New Podcast Series

My friend and publisher, Phil Halton and I have just released (4 Sep) a new book as part of my Essential Guides to War and Warfare series. It is aimed at assisting young leaders of all ranks in the teaching of land combat tactics. If you are a junior leader, this book was written specifically for you. If you know a young leader, this is … Continue reading Newest Book

Although attributed to Winston Churchill, the famous aphorism that “Men and nations behave wisely when they have exhausted all other resources,” was actually first coined by the South African born Israeli statesman Abba Eban. Whether that sentiment best describes what is happening in Europe or whether it is another famous misquotation from Thucydides’ Melian Dialogue in his History of the Peloponnesian War, that the “Strong … Continue reading Why Does Europe Insist on Being Weak?

Predictions are extraordinarily difficult; particularly when they’re about the future! I drew this tongue-in-cheek conclusion in my PhD dissertation. But I wasn’t attempting to be funny. I was making the point that in spite of the near impossibility of making such predictions, daily we are overwhelmed with opinions published by futurists, geopolitical analysts, and countless self-proclaimed experts. There was a sentence that I used to … Continue reading Geopolitical Predictions

When I was younger I could not imagine that someone might actually choose to be ignorant. Because of my good fortune in having been raised in a household that valued education, choosing not to know something was unthinkable to me. And yet, large swathes of Western society have done so. And even more shockingly, done so with determination! In Charles Dickens’ heartwarming tale of moral … Continue reading Choosing Ignorance