Conference Announcement
"Clausewitz in the 21st Century"
International Conference
Department of Politics and International Relations,
University of Oxford
Oxford (UK)
21-23 March 2005
In the 1990s a series of high-profile books in English
argued that Clausewitzs On War had ceased to be a helpful
guide to war today. They included: John Keegan, A history of
warfare (1993); Martin van Creveld, The transformation of
war (1991); and Mary Kaldor, New and Old Wars (1999). Keegan
argued that war is more a matter of culture than politics;
van Creveld and Kaldor that future wars are more likely to
be waged by non-state actors.
Defenders of Clausewitz have emphasised that his work
constitutes a continuous dialectic, embracing many areas of
war, but presenting no easy solutions. It is tempting to
conclude that On War would never have been finished, even if
Clausewitz had survived his bout of cholera of 1831. They
further suggest that his critics have focused on one
proposition to the exclusion of its counter, and, above all,
have confused what is real with what Clausewitz sees as
normative. Yet defenders of On War then tend to restate what
they take to be eternal truths - they are too ready to tell
us why Clausewitz is still relevant, but not how.
Both sides seem to agree, however, that Clausewitz is
important. Certainly the underlying military, historical,
and philosophical issues about which the controversy swirls
are crucial ones. Yet these two camps seem to be arguing
past one another, in an increasingly sterile and
unproductive debate. Accordingly, this conference, and its
resulting volume, will focus on the application and
realisation of Clausewitz today.
Programme Speakers and Provisional Programme:
21 March 2005
CONCEPTS AND INTERPRETATIONS
1. Clausewitz and the dialectics of war - Hew Strachan
2. Problems of text and translation Jan Willem Honig
3. Primacy of policy vs the trinity Chris Bassford
4. Aims and objectives in war Daniel Moran
5. Clausewitzs methodology and its relevance for today
Beatrice Heuser
6. War as art. Aesthetics and Politics in Clausewitz´
social thinking - José Fernandez Vega
22 March 2005
CLAUSEWITZ AND THE REALITIES OF WAR TODAY
7. Clausewitz and small wars Christopher Daase
8. Clausewitz and the privatisation of war and violence
Herfried Münkler
9. Clausewitz, ethics and war Jon Sumida
10. Clausewitz and the war on terror Antulio Echevarria
11. Clausewitz and the nonlinear nature of warfare Alan D
Beyerchen
12. Clausewitz and information warfare David Lonsdale
23 March 2005
CLAUSEWITZ AND THE REALITIES OF WAR TODAY (continued)
13. Limiting war and violence Andreas Herberg-Rothe
14. Civil-military relations and democracies Wilfred von
Bredow
15. Clausewitz and the ethics of politics to be confirmed
CLAUSEWITZ, WAR AND PEACE
Panel discussion
Conference Website:
http://ccw.politics.ox.ac.uk/Clausewitz.asp
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