Sun Tzu and The Art of War
Some historians debate whether a man named Sun Tzu ever existed, much less wrote The Art of War (500 B.C.). Some say that the works of several generals over several decades (or longer) were compiled into one volume and attributed to Sun Tzu, who may be an invention. The debate seems to be about as meaningful as the debate as to whether Shakespeare wrote the great plays attributed to him (My favorite line in the Shakespeare debate is one scholar's answer: "If Shakespeare did not write Hamlet, then someone else of the same name did." So, I take Sun Tzu as a single entity (a man) who wrote The Art of War sometime around 500 B.C.
The Art of War is written like a manual for an emperor, prince, or military leader. It is not a systematic dissection of theory and methodology like von Clausewitz's On War (1832) - which is the seminal Western treatise on war. Acceptance of Sun Tzu's conclusions and recommendations is the main point for his advisees - because staying in power or expanding power is the goal.
Here are ten principles that I glean from The Art of War: (1) A Broad Perspective (War and peace are intertwined); (2) Win all without fighting; (3) A rational calculus of war; (4) Deception, Surprise, Intelligence; (5) Shape the battlefield, battle and adversary; (6) Avoid strength, attack weakness; (7) Comparative advantage, concentration of force; (8) Calculation and boldness; (9) Speed and tempo; (10) Leadership (military and political).
The crux of The Art of War is, in my opinion: Indirect/Internal: The battle is won or lost in the opponent's mind. Direct/External: Maneuver warfare.
Sun Tzu extolls the virtues of winning efficiently by effectively exploiting the indirect approach; e.g., your opponent capitulating instead of fighting. If fighting is necessary, then win quickly at lowest cost. Of course, the indirect and direct are complementary; e.g., In the first Gulf War, the indirect approach was not initially successful, as Saddam Hussein didn't capitulate to U.S. demands and threats. So then the U.S. took a direct approach: massive pounding of the Iraqi with artillery and air strikes followed by an indirect "left hook" maneuver by ground forces leading to internal capitulation. The second Gulf War, or occupation of Iraq, is another story, and will be the subject of a subsequent commentary.
