neo-Clausewitzians

neo-Clausewitzians

modern strategic theorists (e.g. Raymond ARON and Herman Kahn), whose thinking on warfare, including nuclear warfare, has been influenced by the 19th-century military theorist, Karl von CLAUSEWITZ. According to Rapoport (1968), the arguments of neo-Clausewitzians proceed along three lines:

1. against the idea that war can be outlawed;
2. the identification of anticommunism and US ideology, especially during the COLD WAR period, with the defence of Western Civilization and the interests of humanity;
3. an insistence that the extent and intensity of war can be controlled, but only by DETERRENCE.

Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2000