Wisdom of Sun Tzu

Some years ago a Defense Advisory Committee was tasked with articulating a strategic framework that would better advance America's security interests. Sun Tzu was invited. Then someone pointed out he's been dead for twenty-five centuries.

Sun Wu (Tzu is an honorific particle, meaning "master") was a military specialist during the Chou dynasty and the reputed author of The Art of War. This work is now studied in military academies around the globe. It should not, however, be seen as some sort of narrow military treatise -- it has been applied to many fields outside the military e.g. competitive business situations, negotiation tactics and trial strategies, the world of sports (Bill Belichick: every battle is won before it is fought), and even inspiration for Tony Soprano (balk the enemy's power; force him to reveal himself).

Sun Tzu's emphasis is on the exploitation of psychological dominance, founded upon superior knowledge of the enemy. The advice he'd likely offer the above-referenced Committee would be to avoid a protracted war in the first place (there has never been a state that has benefited from an extended military campaign) (click: Water rabbits and logs: The nature of Sun Tzu's ... - SupChin). In fact, his work might just as well have been titled The Art of Avoiding War While Winning. So how might Sun Tzu advise the Committee given the war in Afghanistan is now in its nineteenth year (click: 6,000 days into Afghanistan, US needs a lesson from Sun Tzu)?

General David Petraeus, who commanded the U.S. forces in the Middle East until 9/6/11 (and headed the CIA for a short period thereafter), channeled Sun Tzu last year (click: 'The Art of War': As Relevant Now As When It Was Written). He does a fine job articulating some of Sun Tzu's precepts but, in so doing, ironically highlights the country's failure to have abided by most of them. No wonder the Middle East has become this nation's tar baby.

And the beat goes on. Admiral Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said, "the single greatest threat to our national security is our debt." Fair point. Yet what's really telling is how he follows that up i.e. "our defense strategy should drive budget levels, not the other way around." The fact is we currently spend $649 billion on defense,15% of our federal budget and more than the next seven countries combined.

So how about focusing on a strategy based on cost-effectiveness? We might start with a description, in plain English and without the aid of Powerpoint, what exactly that defense strategy is and thus benefit from the power of know your enemy and know yourself, and fight a hundred battles without danger. One (cheeky) way to read 9-11: we were sucker-punched that day and the country has devolved ever since all by itself (no general should fight a battle simply out of pique). Without over-arching wisdom, our military policy is thus reduced to becoming armed, trigger-happy, and dumb as a fist (he who struggles with naked blades is not a good general).

Here for your reading pleasure are the hundreds of line items, divided into thirteen chapters, that make up the entire (translation of) The Art of War (click: The Internet Classics Archive | The Art of War by Sun Tzu). Be forewarned that it's somewhat poetic (with many nature references), repetitive, and arcane (what's with all those chariots?) and should be read through a Taoist lens. Yet there are precious nuggets to be had, which we ignore at our peril. Perhaps we'll return to them at some future discussion centered around our current trade negotiations with China.