The Art Of War And De Re Militari

Vegetius was an author of the 5th Century Roman Empire with only two surviving works, De Re Militari and

Hedges argues that war is both a deadly addiction—a drug that offers an unmatchable intoxication, the thrill of being released from the moral strictures of everyday life—and a unifying force that provides a sense of meaning, purpose, and self-sacrifice that can wash away life's trivial concerns. But the meaningfulness of combat, Hedges suggests, depends upon the myth of war. In reality, no matter what grand cause it is supposed to support, war is simply the basest form of aggression: "organized murder." Once war begins, the moral universe collapses and every manner of atrocity can be justified in the eyes of those who wage it, because the cause is just, the enemy is inhuman, and only war can restore balance to the world. Hedges reveals the

News media is supposed to serve the purpose of informing their listeners of current and upcoming events that affect the audience. Very few viewers actually take into account how valid these news reports actually are. More or less, the news is accept. The same could be said about any news releases on war. However, in the documentary, “War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death” the narrator speaks to the audience about how the media such as news reporters and presidential speeches influenced Americans to become advocates for the war. Presidents play a large role in propaganda because they showed means of justification for their immoral military actions during these wars. The film discuss several wars in which America contributed in unethical acts.

It has been debated that the legendary Chinese tactician, Sun Tzu did not actually exist. Manuscripts partially preserved for over 2000 years are incomplete, and often contain discrepancies. Due to carbon dating, historians conjecture that Sun Tzu’s 13 Chapter text “The Art of War” is an encyclopedic compilation of early strategic techniques that have remained relevant regardless of time, population, or political and military strategy. Irrespective of Sun Tzu’s existence, it is widely accepted that “The Art of War” teachings remain relevant to modern military tacticians and governmental policy makers. Sun Tzu’s tactical legacy can be seen in the United States Department of Defense, where it’s a required addition in

According to Article One, Section Eight, Congress has the power “To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;” This means that Congress must be consulted before going to war and has the power to not only declare war, but also the power to raise an army and navy, to fund war effort; however, the President, in Article II, is named commander-in-chief of the armed forces, but this does not give him the power to commit armed forces to war.

France was the primary stage upon which the combined efforts of the Western Front took place and it was also the place where the outcome of the bloodshed was decided in 1918, after the country had been ravaged by the conflict since the beginning of it back in 1914. It was in French lands that the modern machinations of war were let loose to roam and become one of the most violent, bloody, and uncontrollable human expressions in recorded

Many cultures have divinities that are in similar roles mainly because these divinities help to explain the unexplainable, or to simply offer a basis for everyday life. In the case of the divinities of war, it provides a reasoning behind the need for an army to conquer or defend the land. For example, Anhur was considered to be the father of the ancient Egyptian Army, thus to the Egyptians he was seen in an important role as the creator of defenders of Egypt. Ares, on the other hand, was a more violent and aggressive God which filled the role of the Greeks, and later the Romans, as aggressors of war. In conclusion, no matter what the culture there was a place for a divinity to inspire all types of people in a myriad of ways, whether it

Dangerous situations, scary moments, putting their lives on the line. All those are what a U.S.

The war in Syria has resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties, as well as the displacement, of just as many refugees who have fled the country. The regime of Bashar Al-Assad, reportedly deployed chemical agents against innocent Syrian people. President Obama went on record, saying that Assad should not cross the “thin red line” (Filkins, 2013). Many interpret this statement from the president to be a threat of war against Syria. Some are actually arguing the ethics of war in this case. During a panel discussion between theologians and policy makers on what makes for a “Just war”, Stanley Hauerwas, Professor emeritus of theological ethics at Duke Divinity School explained that the idea of a “Just war” consists of a discourse which requires thorough diplomatic argument that exhausts all nonviolent efforts before military intervention can ever be considered (Shimron, 2013).

Sun Zi’s Art of War was written by Sun Wu since 2500 years ago. In Sun Zi’s Art of War, chapter 4 there is a military formation or strategy used by the generals that is those who are skillful in warfare can ensure that they will not be defeated by the enemy, but will not be able to ensure victory over the enemy. This mean that people who had been trained for long time and become an expert with full knowledge or skill in that field then it will help them to protect themselves not be defeated by the competitors in any time, this only can help them stay in an invincible position but not to take over the place of competitors. Therefore, it said that one you may know how to win but not necessarily to win the competitors. In the past, the strategy

Sun Tzu understood the nature of war as “the province of life or death,” and a “matter of vital importance to the state.”1 I agree. In my own experience, war awakens your primordial instincts and strips you of your self-rationalizations. Sun Tzu defined the character of war when he wrote, “water has no constant form, there are in war no constant conditions.”2 Accordingly, Sun Tzu’s principals of war offer a framework adequate to explain the nature and character of 21st century warfare, which I rationalize as a near-continuous battle of ideologies fought through asymmetric means to advance the values and interests of state and non-state actors.

As indicated by James Coates and Michael Kilian 's Heavy Losses (1985), in World War II a military assistant of Nationalist General Chiang Kai-shek expressed that “in Chiang’s army, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War was considered a classic but out of date (Shafritz and Borick 2011). A few years later Chiang fell to Sun Tzu’s tactics—employed at the hands of Mao [the leader of the Chinese Communists]” (Shafritz and Borick 2011).

In a new age of war we find that tension in the Middle East is extremely high, especially with the rise of ISIS and the Iranian nuclear deal becoming a widely debated pact. In a turn of events with the Iranian Revolution, 9/11 and the U.S declaring and ending wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, an artist has found her voice, a voice for her Iranian women counterparts. Shirin Neshat has been giving a voice through her contemporary photographs and films. Neshat was born March 26, 1957 in the town of Qazin, Iran. Neshat came to America when she moved to go to Art school, and eventually went to UC Berkeley where she earned her BA, MA and MFA. After finishing school, Neshat moved to New York City and married Kyong Park. In 1990,

One of the first wars in which both sides used Sun Tzu’s text, was World War II. The principles outlined in The Art of War, became ingrained in the tactics of the American, British, German and Russian armies following World War I and the Russo-Japanese War. The tactics in outlined in The Art of War were used in many major battles in World War II in both theaters of combat, leading it to become the one of the most, if not the most influential piece of military work in history.

In the time period of last ten years, many changes have been observed in the nature of Warfare from being aggressive towards more argumentative. There are various views and debates among the nature and character of the wars and the debate continues to grow with time. The several reasons of changes can be attributed to the technological advances and other situational changes. This essay is going to shed light upon whether the nature and character of war has been changed in the course of recent years or it continues to be the same as it was years ago.