Clausewitz and the partisan: Accounting for unlimited enmity in the twenty-first century

Reynolds, Philip

doi:10.2478/jms-2021-0008

Abstract

Napoleon harnessed unlimited enmity to transform wars from limited ones to unlimited ones. Accordingly, Clausewitz developed the Trinity to describe this source of power. However, the increasing destruction due to interstate wars has led to a decrease in this type of conflict. At the same time, there has been an increase in partisan wars. The Trinity cannot explain partisan victories or state defeats. Using social psychology to explain the relationship of the partisan to the group, this research shows how partisans harness unlimited enmity to engage in existential wars. Furthering Clausewitzian philosophy, a new analogy, the singularity, is created to describe this power. Implications and conclusions drawn are at the end of the paper.

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Clausewitz and the partisan: Accounting for unlimited enmity in the twenty-first century

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