Sun Tzu on Putin's policy
TheBlaze has a very interesting take on the latest goings-on in Crimea and the Ukraine and more broadly Russia’s alliances with various proxies hostile to America - a look at Sun Tzu’s “Art of War.” While the full story has 16 relevant quotes, here are a few to illustrate the point.
TheBlaze writes: The quotes below reflect not only a potential framework for understanding Vladimir Putin’s moves, but the moves of America’s enemies in Asia and the Middle East more broadly.
1. “Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.” [Chapter I.19] 2. “Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.” [Chapter I.26]
3. “…In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy’s country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.” [Chapter III.1]
4. “Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy’s troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field. With his forces intact he will dispute the mastery of the Empire, and thus, without losing a man, his triumph will be complete. This is the method of attacking by stratagem.” [Chapter III.6-7]
5. “…If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” [Chapter III.18]
6. “Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.” [Chapter IV.15]
7. “Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed on him.” [Chapter VI.2]
Click here to read more from TheBlaze.
You may also enjoy the reader comments following the story. The two Tulsa Today editors enjoyed most at the time of posting follow:
Dorsai1 Mar. 7, 2014 at 10:57am While Putin is using Sun Tsu, Obama is using Mother Goose.
2dogs Mar. 7, 2014 at 11:15am I don’t know about mother goose. He has taken the constitution out of our republic and given us the banana.