Page "Carl von Clausewitz" Paragraph 16

The word " strategy " had only recently come into usage in modern Europe, and Clausewitz's definition is quite narrow: " the use of engagements for the object of war.

" Some modern readers find this narrow definition disappointing, but his focus was on the conduct of military operations in war, not on the full range of the conduct of politics in war.

Nonetheless, Clausewitz conceived of war as a political, social, and military phenomenon which might — depending on circumstances — involve the entire population of a nation at war.

In any case, Clausewitz saw military force as an instrument that states and other political actors use to pursue the ends of policy, in a dialectic between opposing wills, each with the aim of imposing his policies and will upon his enemy.