Debating War in the Twenty-First Century: Clausewitz Anew

In the post-Cold War era the changing international system, primordial hate and violence motivated by ethnic and religious conflicts, transnationally operating non-state actors, relativization of the state, and rising democratic and liberal values have prompted an ongoing debate on the nature of war. Those commentators who argue that the "new" wars have fundamentally changed the nature of war are of the opinion that the theory of war by Carl von Clausewitz has lost its analytical relevance as a conceptual framework for understanding and explaining war in the twenty-first century. The major contention of this article is the following: In some respects, "new" wars are different from the "old" (conventional) ones. The depth of this difference, however, falls short in changing the nature of war. The conceptual framework of Clausewitz, therefore, remains relevant to a great extent. Clausewitzian interpretation of contemporary wars would be useful to reevaluate political and strategic alternatives that are developed to control and terminate them.