For several days, we have had in mind the killing, the massacre and the terrorist act perpetrated by the group called “Hamas” in Israeli territory. Faced with this attack of atrocious barbarity, we have seen the declarations concerning the fact that Israel is at war against this terrorist group. If we look elsewhere in the world, we can see that conflicts remain active. Let’s think about the war between Ukraine and Russia, the war in Mali (since 2012) and many others. Faced with these various conflicts, there remains, in political philosophy, an essential thinker: Carl von Clausewitz.
Who is he ? Carl von Clausewitz was a Prussian officer and war theorist who lived from 1780 to 1831. His landmark work is entitled Of the war. This is the collection of the various notes collected by the latter after his death. This work was published posthumously by his wife.
Even today, this thinker is a prominent figure in military thought and polemology (study of war from a sociological point of view), despite the outdated nature of certain elements.
Regardless of the ongoing war, Carl von Clausewitz attempted to define what constitutes it. As he makes clear in his first book, war is “the continuation of politics by other means.” It is therefore a modality of politics carried out by states, nations and groups. She is a political object. Clausewitz also states, again in his book, that war “is violence in action” and whose “objective is to compel the adversary to carry out our will.” When peaceful actions lead to nothing, then war becomes one means among others.
We can see these elements in the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia, as well as in the attack by the Hamas terrorist group on Israel. The idea is to force the political opponent to adhere to the ideas of the other group. Of course, usually this happens between two States, but we can also understand it in a conflict between one organized group vis-à-vis another.
Thus, when reason disappears through argument or dialogue of equals, then one of the groups tries to break its opponent through violence.
Note, however, that the Prussian thinker of the 18th centurye century does not speak of gain in the context of the end of the war. It speaks of the submission, abdication and withdrawal of one of the two groups in the warlike conflict. There are therefore no winners per se. There is only one loser, abandoning his sovereignty and his capacity for action for the benefit of another.
In this sense, if we observe the current wars, we should realize that there will be no winners or victors. Some heads of state will obviously try to master a certain victorious rhetoric, but the reality will be very different.
We will all lose, to varying degrees. Let us think of children, families, civilians, women, the elderly; so many lives sacrificed on the altar of the desire for domination and unreason.
When we truly become aware of this warlike absurdity and the terrible consequences, we will truly move towards a more peaceful society and civilization. This is where the crucial role of diplomacy appears in particular.
I will end with the sentence of Jean Jaurès, French politician, ardent defender of peace: “We do not wage war to get rid of war. »