The New Art of War
The Origins, Theory, and Future of Conflict

Offers a new general war theory that propels our understanding of war's character, nature, and future into the next century.

Geoffrey F. Weiss (Author)

9781108837644, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 2 September 2021

470 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.9 cm, 0.82 kg

'The New Art of War is a monumental achievement! With this unique book, Weiss advances our understanding of war's nature, character, form, and future in new and practical directions. His Unified War Theory and novel principle of 'viscosity' are essential, long overdue updates to existing theory that will inform strategy, empower analysis, and deliver on the author's goal of preventing, shortening, or winning wars. The New Art of War is a must read for every strategist or scholar of man's most destructive impulse.' W. Michael Guillot, Editor of Strategic Studies Quarterly

Many of war's lethal failures are attributable to ignorance caused by a dearth of contemporary, accessible theory to inform warfighting, strategy, and policy. To remedy this problem, Colonel Geoffrey F. Weiss offers an ambitious new survey of war's nature, character, and future in the tradition of Sun Tzu and Clausewitz. He begins by melding philosophical and military concepts to reveal war's origins and to analyze war theory's foundational ideas. Then, leveraging science, philosophy, and the wisdom of war's master theorists, Colonel Weiss presents a genuinely original framework and lexicon that characterizes and clarifies the relationships between humanity, politics, strategy, and combat; explains how and why war changes form; offers a methodology for forecasting future war; and ponders the permanence of war as a human activity. The New Art of War is an indispensable guide for understanding human conflict that will change how we think and communicate about war.

List of Figures
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Why Study War?
1. The Origins of War
2. The Masters of War Theory and Strategy
3. Small Wars and Domain Theory
4. The Unified War Theory
5. The Future of War
Conclusion
Appendix
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Military tactics [JWKT], International relations [JPS], Military history [HBW]