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The Transformation of War: The Most Radical Reinterpretation of Armed Conflict Since Clausewitz (Hardcover)

~ Martin Van Creveld (Author) "A ghost is stalking the corridors of general staffs and defense departments all over the "developed" world-the fear of military impotence, even irrelevance..." (more)
Key Phrases: trinitarian war, warmaking organizations, modern strategic thought, World War, United States, Soviet Union (more...)

4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Most wars since 1945 have been low-intensity conflicts and, according to the author, incomparably more significant than conventional wars in terms of casualties suffered and political results achieved. Citing the dismal record of regular forces vs. irregulars in Vietnam, Lebanon, Afghanistan and elsewhere, he suggests that as small-scale wars proliferate, conventional armed forces will shrink and the burden of protecting society will shift to the booming security business. Van Creveld, who teaches history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, argues that the theories of Karl von Clausewitz, which form the basis for Western strategic thought, are largely irrelevant to nonpolitical wars such as the Islamic jihad and wars for existence such as Israel's Six-Day War. In the future, he prophesies, wars will be waged by groups of terrorists, guerrillas and bandits motivated by fanatical, ideologically-based loyalties; conventional battles will be replaced by skirmishes, bombings and massacres. Weapons will become less, rather than more, sophisticated and the high-tech weapons industry (which "supports itself by exporting its own uselessness") will collapse like a house of cards. A bold, provocative, frightening book.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

Since Clausewitz, was has been considered a rational extension of politics by nations seeking to advance their interests. Now, in this sweeping reassessment of the ends and means of war, Martin van Creveld advances a new understanding of what was is today, and for what that it's fought.

Product Details

Hardcover: 254 pages
Publisher: Free Press (March 31, 1991)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0029331552
ISBN-13: 978-0029331552
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #302,535 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
A ghost is stalking the corridors of general staffs and defense departments all over the "developed" world-the fear of military impotence, even irrelevance. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
trinitarian war, warmaking organizations, modern strategic thought, war convention, modern armed forces, conventional war, war for existence

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
World War, United States, Soviet Union, Middle East, French Revolution, Roman Empire, Third World, Grande Arm�e, Republican Rome, Sri Lanka, Frederick the Great, Gulf Crisis, Latin America, North Vietnamese, Red Army, Viet Cong, Western Europe, Adolf Hitler, Alexander the Great, Chanson de Roland, Congress of Vienna, Das Volk, Der Totale Krieg, Far East, Israel Defense Forces

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Citations (learn more)

100 books cite this book:

Non-state Threats and Future Wars by Robert Bunker on 7 pages
The Nature of War in the Information Age: Clausewitzian Future (Strategy and History Series) by David Lonsdale on 6 pages
Nature of War in the Information Age (Strategy and History Series) by David Lonsdale on 6 pages
Marching through Chaos by John A. English on 5 pages
Coercive Military Strategy by Stephen J. Cimbala on 4 pages

See all 100 books citing this book

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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews

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4 star:		(2)
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4.5 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!!!, December 9, 2004

By	Dimitrios (Greece) - See all my reviews

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When I finished reading this book I could hardly believe that a writer could prophesize the future war events in such a clear way. Van Creveld's thesis is that war as we know it in the last 3,5 centuries (waged between states and organized armies) has reached its end and is now in a process of radical tramsformation. Analyzing many examples from the military history he suggests that we are entering into an era where states lose the monopoly of waging war and confront non-state actors who do not embrace the same philosophical values. Van Creveld overturns Clauzewitz's traditional views one by one, using very convincing arguments, and unfortunately he is confirmed by international events today. While reading the book there were many cases when I was dumbfounded by the fact that a writer completing his work near the end of the Cold War could see our era with such a clarity, and I was really amazed by the fact that the book was written in 1991. It is more modern than anything else I have read on the subject of modern war and surpasses even contemporary analysis. Van Creveld does not avoid to touch even hot topics, like the sheer joy of fighting (paraphrasing Clausewitz he states that war is more the continuation of sports by other means than politics) the taboo of introducing women in the armies, the role of religion in the motivation of war and the very important argument that war does not begin when someone is willing to kill but when he is willing to die for a cause. The accuracy of his predictions is often so amazing that it becomes terrifying, especially when he states that in the future the war leaders will not be legitimate government officials but something like "The Old Man in the Mountains", meaninig the kind of warfare waged by assassins in the Middle Ages. He is also very critical against the current military-industrial complex and its super-expensive creations of high tech weapons, saying that all this paraphernalia of old war are like dinosaurs about to face extinction. This is a highly recommended book and it is sure that it will change many of your establised views on war.

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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the better books on current military issues...., April 8, 2001

By	J. Michael Showalter (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews

Martin van Crevald is truely one of the best strategic thinkers whom is writing today. In his more classic books like 'Supplying War: Logistics from Wallerstein to Patton' he wrote VERY credible military history that shook some of the foundations of less-sound strategic thought that was occuring concurrently; he has also written a powerful critique of people who have hopped on the shoulders of NGOs and non-state actors AND state-centered people in 'The Rise and Decline of the State'. Personally, these have over time become two of my favorite books: perhaps a couple years from now, this shall finish the trinity.

Van Crevald puts forth a case that the era of massed conventional wars have finished. For a variety of reasons, the Central-front type conflicts between the USSR and US of the fifties never happened and never will. The more conflicts have happened, the more correct he appears (this book is already eleven years old...) Trying to prepare for them is silly (much in the same way , he asserts, that National Missile Defense is....)

This is a must read for students of military strategy and affairs and international politics in general. Its quite a worthwhile book as general reading, though I think that it might be at present out of print. I highly recommend it-- and the other books listed at the beginning of this review....

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31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BRAVO!!!, July 24, 2002

By	"nordenman" (Lexington, KY, USA) - See all my reviews

Although this book was written in 1991 the scenarios and tendencies discussed in the book are now becoming reality in terrorism, civil wars in Africa and the Balkans, and the fruitless war in the Middle East between Israel and the Palestinians.

Creveld convincingly argues that the new conflicts will not neccessarily be fought between states, and that technology and military superiority are not neccessarily guarantees of victory. Creveld shows that while the militaries of the West has run away on a shopping spree to acqurie the new nifty things in the shape of fighter jets, submarines, and laser guided missiles the enemy in the shape of guerillas and terrorist have acquired other, less advanced means, to fight back. The US helicopters that were shot down in Somalia and Afghanistan were not taken down with high tech missiles - instead they were grounded by RPG-7s, a grenade launcher from the 1950s.

But Creveld does so much more with this book. Rather than being a book only about the future of war it is about the future of the international system. Creveld's book has greatly influenced other writers such as Robert Kaplan who wrote "The Coming Anarchy".

Believers in technology, the wonders of globalization, and the supremacy of the nation state should read this book and seriously consider it. The world as we know it might not be around in the future - and it doesn't look pretty.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Oversimplification by Omission
I'm giving this book three stars because it at least will challenge the reader intellectually. The book makes a number of predictions based on what was appearing to be a start of... Read more

Published 16 months ago by M. L. Huffman

4.0 out of 5 stars A very advanced book
This is one of the best books that I have read on war. The book covers history, government, religion, economics, law (both domestic and international). Read more

Published on August 7, 2007 by Sleazy P.

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended Reading
I highly recommend this book be on the US Army's Chief of Staff reading list for officers (if it has not already been done). Read more

Published on July 5, 2006 by Jose C. Tejeda Jr.

3.0 out of 5 stars Not that great
read this book with very high expectations based on the reviews. There is a lot in it. Some of it is right, some is not (e.g. Read more

Published on August 4, 2005 by Rufus Pisanus

5.0 out of 5 stars The words of a prophet and a teacher of Homer
To understand the review is to first know the reviewer: My background is aesthetic and I'm a teacher of literature. Read more

Published on September 13, 2004 by S. R. Cundiff

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth Reading
What this book is about is described by the title: The Transformation of War. The book is an examination of the factors which influenced the development of military practice in... Read more

Published on August 18, 2004 by Dwight Charles

5.0 out of 5 stars What is War? Why War? The War of the Future!
What is war?

War is the army that fights it. Soldiers are warriors guided by rules of engagement. Read more

Published on April 7, 2003 by Golden Lion

5.0 out of 5 stars the new clausewitz
In the not too distant future, this book will eclipse Clausewitz's On War. Van Creveld's work truly explains a major on-going transformation of warfare--a transformation we are... Read more

Published on March 10, 2002 by Morgan H. Norval

3.0 out of 5 stars Start with the ending
Mr. Van Creveld did some good work here. This volume gives a good background on the history of war and warfare. Read more

Published on December 19, 2001 by Edward L. Sanford

5.0 out of 5 stars A Clear Look at the Future of War
Martin van Creveld obviously completed this book before August 1990 (� 1961) because there is no reference to the Gulf War. Read more

Published on November 13, 2001 by David Malone

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