Abstract

The nature of war has been widely misunderstood. Far from being the continuation of policy, as Clausewitz and his present day "neorealist" followers think, in many ways it follows the rules of sports. In particular, the resemblance to sports ensures that, in a long conflict, in which the strong beat down the weak, the former will lose strength, whereas the latter will gain it. This logic has profound implications for counterinsurgency operations, including those ongoing in Iraq.