The Art of War, by Sun Tzu

Two and a half millennia ago lived Sun Tzu, possibly the greatest military mind in the history of the world. Sun Tzu was a Chinese philosopher, but that in no way means that his method of thought is applicable only in the East. Twenty-five hundred years after writing, Sun Tzu’s book, The Art of War remains the most important treatise ever written on military strategy. Is it though? Can Sun Tzu’s tactics still be applied to modern military operations, when warfare has changed so much since? At time of writing, Chinese forces were still using weapons like the Qiang (spear) and Ji (halberd). These primarily close-ranged bladed weapons bear no semblance to modern firearms or high explosives whatsoever. In the last century especially, the technology of war has advanced so rapidly that on the surface, it would seem at first like there are practically no similarities between war in the fifth century B.C.E. and war in twenty-first century C.E. After all this time, can The Art of War still hold up, or has it gone the way of chariots and archers?

One thing obviously has not changed: war is still an ongoing part of the life of a nation. The United States especially has been involved in so many wars and conflicts from its formation that one begins to wonder whether it has become embedded in American society. According to Sun Tzu, “Warfare is the greatest affair of state, the basis of life and death, the Way (Tao) to survival or extinction. It must be thoroughly pondered and analyzed”. Sun Tzu stated that there are five factors to take into account when considering who will come out of a conflict victorious. These are: The Tao, Heaven, Earth, the generals and the laws for military organization and discipline. These five overarching themes f...

... middle of paper ...

...zu’s time.

After twenty-five hundred years, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War still reigns supreme. In that long span of time, numerous empires have risen, expanded and collapsed. Wars have reached and ravaged almost every point on the planet. Humans have evolved from using swords and spears to using machine guns and missiles. Parts of the world have been colonized and have risen to prominence where once people thought there was no land. The Art of War has withstood all of this and stayed the most important source of military strategy for over two millennia. No other military document, and in fact few other written books at all, have come close to lasting this long. If ever asked: Can something as old as The Art of War remain relevant today, when it’s subject matter has changed so drastically in so long a time? The answer for now, and maybe forever, is a resounding ‘yes’.