Politics and War
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Explanation of the document
Politics and War is an essay by Bremen von Rothschild, Loremaster and Professor of International Relations at The Imperial Academy of Dalmar.
Politics and War discusses the overlap between politics and war, and evaluates the potential uses for military action as a political tool. Politics and War draws on some of Carl von Clauzwitz' famous On War.
IC availability
Politics and War is not widely published because of its academic nature, but because it is recent, it is widely available in libraries and the Imperial Academy within Imperial Dalmar. While Politics and War is discussed in relation to Dalmar's foreign policy interests, it is also the sort of essay that might cause concern to others states, and as a result copies are not currently distributed outside Imperial Dalmar.
The Work: Politics and War by Bremen von Rothschild
Politics and War
There is little doubt that the seperation of deparments such as foreign affairs and defence comprises effective use of resources. Further, it is definitely the case that such departments benefit from their seperation; they are able to handle different times of crises simultaneously. However, to infer from this that politics and war are naturally seperated spheres has the potential to be dangerous. Too often, war is seen purely from the perspective of the battlefield, and likewise, politics is seen as a game, a tool with which to manipulate one's enemies.
Both of these perspectives are incorrect; politics and war are invariably linked. Not only does politics have the potential to cause wars, as any student of history knows well, but likewise war itself is often a carefully-executed political ploy. Specifically because war is the realm of states, war cannot be seperated from politics. War is politics, and politics is war. Politics represents a rationalisation of war, and war represents the unpleasant, brutal canvas on which politics truly exists.
It is vital that, in approaching foreign policy, this fact is not forgotten. Not only is war and the threat of war a powerful tool which states might exercise, it is also necessary to understand how war can be used and defused. To consider the implications of this idea, Politics and War examines the idea of 'war for its own sake', how military aims might support states' political goals, and the contention that the result of war is determined by the will of a people to win as well as the resources available.
War for War's Sake
Throughout history, it is quite possible to observe states who saw war as an end in itself. These states argued that conquest was a natural right; that to invade other states regardless of their stability in the international system was the right of a 'strong' state. This perspective, in other words, equates to 'survival of the fittest' in the international sphere.
- - Bremen von Rothschild, Professor of International Relations at the Imperial Academy of Political Science.
