The Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and the new international economic order (The Washington papers)

Coker, Christopher

Praeger

Rebooting Clausewitz offers an entirely new take on the work of history's greatest theorist of war. Written for an undergraduate readership that often struggles with Clausewitz's master work On War--a book that is often considered too philosophical and impenetrably dense--it seeks to unpack some of Clausewitz's key insights on theory and strategy. In three fictional interludes Clausewitz attends a seminar at West Point; debates the War on Terror at a Washington think tank; and visits a Robotics Institute in Santa Fe where he discusses how scientists are reshaping the future of war. Three separate essays situate Clausewitz in the context of his times, discuss his understanding of the culture of war, and the extent to which two other giants--Thucydides and Sun Tzu--complement his work. Some years ago the philosopher W.B. Gallie argued that Clausewitz needed to be 'saved from the Clausewitzians'. Clausewitz doesn't need saving and his commentators have contributed a great deal to our understanding of On War's seminal status as a text. But too often they tend to conduct a conversation between themselves. This book is an attempt to let a wider audience into the conversation.

Rebooting Clausewitz: 'On War' in the Twenty-First Century

History

Military

Oxford University Press

Why War?

This is not a book about philosophy and war. It is a book on contemporary conflict in which the author invokes philosophy to help understand the problems that we face in fighting war today. Barbarous Philosophers sets out to discuss the nature of war through the work of sixteen philosophers from Heraclitus in the sixth century BC to the philosopher-physicist Werner Heisenberg writing in the 1950s. Each section begins with a brief epigram representative of each writer's thinking. The contention of the book is that war, as opposed to warfare, is largely an invention of philosophy--our reflection on organised collective violence that date from the time we emerged from the hunter-gatherer stage of development and created the first civilisations centred around city life. The Greek philosophers were the first to invent what Pascal called the 'rules' of war and in representing the nature of war they also influenced how it was conducted to the extent that generals allowed their minds to be shaped over time by the work of philosophy. The purpose of philosophy, writes Herbert Simon, is to understand meaningful simplicity in the midst of disorderly complexity. Behind the flux of everyday life there is an 'ordered' existence which it is the task of philosophy to uncover if it can. Behind the ever changing character of war lies its nature that needs to be grasped if it is to be waged successfully.

Barbarous Philosophers: Reflections on the Nature of War from Herclitus to Heisenberg

Warrior Geeks examines how technology is transforming the way we think about and fight war, taking three major changes that are driving this process: cybernetic technologies that are folding soldiers into a cybernetic system that will allow the military to read their thoughts and emotions and mould them accordingly; the coexistence of men and robots in the battle-spaces of tomorrow; and the extent to which we may be able to re-engineer warriors through pharmacological manipulation. By referring back to the Greeks who defined the contours of war for us, Coker shows how we are in danger of losing touch with our humanity - the name we give not only to a species but the virtues we deem it to embody. The journey from Greeks to Geeks may be a painful one. War can only be rendered more humane if we stay in touch with the ancestors, yet unfortunately we are planning to subcontract our ethical choices to machines. In revaluing technology, are we devaluing our humanity, or the post-human condition, changing our subjectivity and thus the existential dimension of war by changing our relationship with technology both functionally and performatively?

Warrior Geeks: How 21st Century Technology is Changing the Way We Fight and Think About War

Since Achilles first stormed into our imagination, literature has introduced its readers to truly unforgettable martial characters. In Men at War, Christopher Coker discusses some of the most famous of these fictional creations and their impact on our understanding of war and masculinity. Grouped into five archetypes-warriors, heroes, villains, survivors and victims-these characters range across 3000 years of history, through epic poems, the modern novel and one of the twentieth century's most famous film scripts. Great authors like Homer and Tolstoy show us aspects of reality invisible except through a literary lens, while fictional characters such as Achilles and Falstaff, Robert Jordan and Jack Aubrey, are not just larger than life; they are life's largeness-and this is why we seek them out. Although the Greeks knew that the lovers, wives and mothers of soldiers are the chief victims of battle, for the combatants, war is a masculine pursuit. Each of Coker's chapters explores what fiction tells us about war's appeal to young men and the way it makes- and breaks-them. The existential appeal of war too is perhaps best conveyed in fictional accounts, and these too are scrutinized by the author.

Men At War: What Fiction Tells us About Conflict, From The Iliad to Catch-22

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

The Improbable War explains why conflict between the USA and China cannot be ruled out. In 1914 war between the Great Powers was considered unlikely, yet it happened. We learn only from history, and popular though the First World War analogy is, the lessons we draw from its outbreak are usually mistaken. Among these errors is the tendency to over-estimate human rationality. All major conflicts of the past 300 years have been about the norms and rules of the international system. In China and the US the world confronts two 'exceptional' powers whose values differ markedly, with China bidding to challenge the current order. The 'Thucydidean Trap' - when a conservative status quo power confronts a rising new one - may also play its part in precipitating hostilities. To avoid stumbling into an avoidable war both Beijing and Washington need a coherent strategy, which neither of them has. History also reveals that war evolves continually. The next global conflict is likely to be played out in cyberspace and outer space and like all previous wars it will have devastating consequences. Such a war between the United States and China may seem improbable, but it is all too possible, which is why we need to discuss it now.

The Improbable War: China, The United States and Logic of Great Power Conflict

From Heraclitus in the sixth century B.C.E. to the twentieth-century philosopher-physicist Werner Heisenberg, intellectuals have struggled to make sense of war and its presence in human society. Yet Christopher Coker contends that philosophers are the ones who created the concept of war, largely by defining its rules and establishing an oppositional dialectic of peace. The Greeks were the first to outline what Blaise Pascal called the "rules of war," and through their description of its "nature," influenced the thinking of contemporary generals and military strategy.
Nevertheless, Coker's book focuses less on the philosophical underpinnings of war and more on the particular problems we face while fighting war today. Guided by the work of sixteen major thinkers, it examines several paradoxes of combat: the belief that war is a continuation, rather than a negation, of politics by other means; the idea that we should respect those who don't respect us; the notion that war can help a soldier reaffirm his humanity; and the odd fact that the concept of peace is still contested. Coker draws on the work of philosophers who have tackled war directly and intensely in their writing. Each chapter begins with an epigram distilling the essence of a chosen philosopher's thinking on war and uses it as a prism through which to analyze aspects of war most relevant to contemporary combat. Barbarous Philosophers entirely reorients our understanding of armed conflict throughout human history.

Barbarous Philosophers: Reflections on the Nature of War From Heraclitus to Heisenberg (Columbia/Hurst)

Columbia University Press

Warrior Geeks examines how technology is transforming the way we think about and fight war, focusing on three major changes driving the process: the technologies aiming to incorporate soldiers into a cybernetic system through which the military can read their thoughts and mold them accordingly; the anticipated coexistence of men and robots on the battlefields of tomorrow; and the extent to which armies may one day be able to reengineer warriors through pharmacological manipulation.Harking back to the Greeks and Aristotle's original conception of virtue ethics and the proper contours of war, Christopher Coker believes modern humans are on the verge of losing touch with their humanity. War can only be rendered more humane if we recall the wisdom of our ancestors, he claims. Unfortunately, modern society is about to subcontract its ethical self to machines. In revaluing technology, we devalue our humanity, or the posthuman condition, and by changing our functional and performative relationship to technology, we irrevocably alter our subjectivity and the existential dimensions of war.

Warrior Geeks: How 21st Century Technology is Changing the Way We Fight and Think About War (Columbia/Hurst)

This book looks at South Africa's military future. It specifically examines the military problems which South Africa will face over the next decade. According to the author, South Africa is a colossus with feet of clay. He points out that South Africa will have problems because of service morale, deficiency of equipment, and performance of the defense sector. He also discusses how the West has taken for granted South Africa's alignment with the Western World, and its ramifications. Finally, Coker shows that South Africa's security dilemmas are largely of its own making. He concludes that choices between roles have been avoided for far too long and some hard decisions will have to be made.This new book looks at South Africa's military future. It specifically examines the military problems which South Africa will face over the next decade. According to the author, South Africa is a colossus with feet of clay. He points out that South Africa will have problems because of service morale, deficiency of equipment, and performance of the defense sector. He also discusses how the West has taken for granted South Africa's alignment with the Western World, and its ramifications. Finally, Coker shows that South Africa's security dilemmas are largely of its own making. He concludes that choices between roles have been avoided for far too long and some hard decisions will have to be made.

South Africa's Security Dilemmas: (The Washington Papers)

Education & Teaching

Schools & Teaching

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