Science, Strategy and War The Strategic Theory of ... - Boekje Pienter

mental or moral, instead they aim to impact at least two at the same time. They aim atdisrupting connections (moral, informational, spatial, ideational, logistical) between the rulerand his people; between the commander and his troops, and between units, by physicallyseparating them, isolating them, dislocating them, by morally disrupting cohesion throughcreating distrust and decreasing support for the ruler by thwarting his plans and taking awayhis army, spreading false information, bribing officials 94 and diplomatic pressure, disruptinghis alliances and generally chipping away at the power base of a ruler and the legitimacy andintegrity of his actions. Through the combination of unanticipated physical movementactions aim to confuse (mental sphere) and work on the moral fiber of the enemy. Throughthe use of secrecy, rapid movements and attacks, by attacking where not expected, bycombined use of orthodox and unorthodox methods the enemy is dislocated and confusedand numerically inferior, which works on the morale of the troops. The simultaneous use ofmultiple methods affect moral, mental and physical aspects of the enemy’s system through allthe levels of it.And this leads to the essence of The Art of War. Viewed in the most abstract way SunTzu has the following strategic advice: Preserve harmony, create chaos and achieve victory bycontinually keeping the enemy off balance through a superior capability to adapt. Like Boyd, Sun Tzutargeted harmony. Disrupting harmony, at all levels, is the objective of warfare. The first page of thefirst chapter deals with the important aspect of maintaining harmony. The political goals ofwarfare could be achieved by creating a state of chaos in the enemy’s society, which in thedays of Sun Tzu meant the destruction of the psychological, social and political order, whichwas the ideal of classical Chinese society. Sun Tzu believed the goal of warfare was todestroy the conditions of prosperity and order that formed the link between the ruler and hispeople. If the link was broken, then the rulers’ claim for legitimacy was forfeited. Thecreation of a state of chaos meant the moral failure of a rule of leader and the shift of moralleadership to the opposition; a rebel, usurper or invader 95 . Sun Tzu also lists disorganization,distrust, ruin, collapse, flight and insubordination as factors that can undermine an army,factors that induce chaos and lead the commander away from a state of harmony. Boydincorporates this theme in the types of conflict he thinks strategically the soundest:Maneuver Conflict and Moral Conflict, two types which straddle the military and the nonmilitarydimension between them.The means to achieve this goal is having a superior capability to adapt. As in Boyd’s work, SunTzu’s work revolves around the notion of adaptability. The whole idea of preservation ofharmony at all levels, of inducing chaos at all levels, about acquiring information and beingformless, fathomless and about maintaining secrecy, etc, are about the need to maintain thecapability to adapt. And the prime concept that reflects this is the idea that one should accordwith the enemy. It reflects the understanding that the opponent behaves unpredictable andone’s efforts should be aimed at constantly monitoring the state of the opponent and hisoptions, and towards attempts to shape these options and limit their range and variety.Adapting means looking at the opponent’s responses, which are reflections of his attemptsto adapt. Boyd’s work is very close to The Art of War in spirit. There are very close parallels inthe prime role of information accorded in strategy, in the role of perception, in the attentionfor pattern recognition, in the importance of tempo, surprise, novelty and mismatches.Indeed, if there is one strategic author Boyd must conceptually be related and compared94 Although not covered here, anyone interested in subverting a government from within should takea look at the T’ai K’ung’s Six Secret Teachings in The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China.95 O’Dowd and Waldron, p. 27.64