The Art of War, Carnes Lord

Naval War College Review Volume 57 Article 18 Number 3 Summer/Autumn 2004 The Art of War, Carnes Lord Follow this and additional works at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review Recommended Citation Lord, Carnes (2004) "The Art of War,," Naval War College Review: Vol. 57 : No. 3 , Article 18. Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol57/iss3/18 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Naval War College Review by an authorized editor of U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen 158 NAVAL WAR COLLEGE REVIEWLord: The Art of War, to overcome the stultifying stasis of the huge Department of Defense bureau- cracies—military and civilian—and the Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Art of War. Edited and mental inertia of fifty years of Cold War translated by Christopher Lynch. Chicago: Univ. thinking. As Scarborough notes, of Chicago Press, 2003. 262pp. $25 “Rumsfeld’s task of reconfiguring the Machiavelli’s classic, if now rarely read, military and fighting the war on terror The Art of War was probably the single is so immense that it will take the light most popular military treatise in Eu- of history to determine exactly what he rope prior to Jomini—Clausewitz was a finally accomplished and at what he professed admirer. failed.” If nothing else, Rumsfeld cre- ated, if not institutionalized, the state of At first sight, this book, with its appar- intellectual ferment that antecedes ma- ent attempt to revive the infantry- jor change in any large organization. centered military organization of the imperial Roman legions, seems hope- Rumsfeld’s War is a quick, instructive lessly irrelevant to present concerns. read from a pro-Rumsfeld perspective. Even within its historical setting (it was In that sense, it perhaps could be con- originally published in 1521), sidered a counter to Bob Woodward’s Machiavelli’s work is often dismissed two recent “insider” books on the cur- today for its alleged failure to appreci- rent war, for which Woodward received ate the social and technological very little support from Rumsfeld, and trends—particularly the growing im- in which Rumsfeld is not sympatheti- portance of gunpowder—underpinning cally depicted. On the downside, the the “revolution in military affairs” of book stylistically feels somewhat as if the sixteenth century. Christopher the author threw together some of his Lynch makes an excellent case that such day-to-day reporting text and called it a interpretations neglect the literary or book. Also, fully one-third of the book rhetorical dimension of The Art of War consists of appendices, with copies of and its relationship to Machiavelli’s various memos and papers, many clas- larger intellectual project. In an exten- sified “secret”; no military reader can sive introduction, as well as an interpre- applaud the open use of such docu- tive essay, Lynch rebuts the criticisms of ments. However, the book is an inter- contemporary scholars, defends esting depiction of a remarkable man. Machiavelli’s grasp of the military reali- As Scarborough notes on the final ties of his own day, and reinterprets the page, “It is hard to imagine any other intention of the work in relation to man to whom Bush could have turned Machiavelli’s more famous political trea- to fight this war with more tenacity, tises, The Prince and Discourses on Livy. panache, and, at the appropriate time, good humor.” Lynch’s key point is that Machiavelli was not simply the backward-looking JAN VAN TOL Captain, U.S. Navy admirer of Rome he is often taken to be but a revolutionary thinker who com- bined elements of past military and political systems in a novel synthesis. His apparent reliance on Roman models is to be understood fundamentally as a Published by U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons, 2004 1 C:\WIP\NWCR\NWC Review Summer_Autumn 2004.vp Tuesday, September 28, 2004 12:26:48 PM Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen Naval War College Review, Vol. 57 [2004], No. 3, Art. 18 BOOK REVIEWS 159 rhetorical device designed to appeal to valuable aspect of national security that the prejudices of the humanist-oriented demands greater attention—the armed Italian elite of his day. At the military forces’ use of contractors. The frame- level, Lynch argues that Machiavelli’s work Singer develops is especially appreciation of the role of artillery and worthwhile, and although many of his cavalry has long been underestimated. suggestions are often provocative, in Machiavelli goes out of his way to call some areas his analysis is flawed and the attention to the limitations of the Ro- implications are loose and unsup- man way of warfare, which was evident ported. Overall, however, this work is a in their campaigns against the superb effort to advance discussion on a Parthians, who relied exclusively on critical topic. light mobile cavalry armed with the The Bush administration has made it bow and guerilla-style raiding tactics. clear that even with the demands re- Lynch suggests that what Machiavelli ul- lated to the global war on terror, it timately envisions is a synthesis of Rome would prefer not to dramatically in- or “Europe” and “Asia,” a combination crease the size of its forces. To make up of Clausewitzian commitment to the de- for the difference—particularly with re- cisive battle and extensive employment spect to Afghanistan and Iraq—con- of maneuver, deception, and surprise in tractors have been hired to pick up the a manner reminiscent of Sun Tzu. slack. Hence, the current war is one Whatever view one takes of Lynch’s where corporate warriors of private bold and provocative reading of military firms have become part of the Machiavelli’s text, his handling of the environment. translation is exemplary and unlikely to Throughout the world other states and be challenged in the foreseeable future. international organizations have also He makes use of the definitive critical turned to private military firms for as- edition of the Italian text published in sistance. Singer argues persuasively that Rome in 2001, which removes many there are policy and operational con- errors present in older versions. The cerns about the use of these firms that translation itself is relatively literal, with need to be examined more thoroughly. occasional awkwardness but much en- The book is divided into three parts, of hanced access to the terminology of which the first two are the most useful Machiavelli himself; there is also a very and of durable value. “The Rise” con- extensive glossary of terms. tains an interesting thumbnail of mer- CARNES LORD cenaries through the ages and sets the Naval War College context for understanding contemporary motivations for the use of private military firms. “Organization and Op- erations” provides an exceptionally useful framework for understanding the Singer, Peter W. Corporate Warriors. Ithaca, N.Y.: roles of various private firms that per- Cornell Univ. Press, 2003. 330pp. $35 form duties often identified with the Corporate Warriors is a must read for military. Chapter 6, “The Private Mili- military professionals and national se- tary Industry Classified,” lays out the curity experts. It opens a dialogue to a taxonomy for firms involved in https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol57/iss3/18 2 C:\WIP\NWCR\NWC Review Summer_Autumn 2004.vp Tuesday, September 28, 2004 12:26:48 PM.

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