War and Politics from Karl von Clausewitz to Raymond Aron

• Published in: Revue française de sociologie 1976-10, Vol.17 (4), p.643-651
• Main Author: Freund, Julien
• Format: Article
• Language: fre
• Subjects: Aron, R; Clausewitz, Karl; Conflict/Conflicts; Politics; War/Wars/Warfare
• ISSN: 0035-2969

In his Penser la guerre, Clausewitz (I: L'age europeen; II: L'age planetaire, [Clausewitz's Thinking on War I: The European Age; II: The Planetary Age] Paris: Gallimard, 1976), R. Aron has faithfully produced a detailed commentary on K. von Clausewitz' momentous works on war & politics. Clausewitz departed from the traditional notion of war as a simple act of violence to exert force, adding another conceptualization as an armed observation which proves strength in the face of possible violence. Aron's work is remarkable not only because it is a real summary of Clausewitz's thoughts, but because he also deeply searches his own liberal ideology. Because Clausewitz took a global view of war as a manifestation of politics ("War is nothing but a continuation of politics by other means"), Aron's effort becomes equally as global, refuting the militarist interpretation given by A. Rapoport. Given Aron's interpretation of the relationship between war & politics, it is possible to extend this to the relations between such concepts as real & absolute war, & tactics & strategy. In Clausewitz et "l'entre-deux," ou de quelques difficultes d'une recherche de paternite legitime [Clausewitz & the "In-Between", or on Some Difficulties in a Study of Legitimate Paternity], Michel Dobry points to a rupture which Aron artificially finds in Clausewitz by relating later works to the earlier ones out of which they evolved. This rupture can be found in many German works of this period: a split between theory & practice or abstract & concrete, which is extended to means & end, part & whole, war & peace. In his treatment, Aron insufficiently deals with this dichotomy by misrepresenting "absolute war" in relationship to real war. He speaks of the "sovereignty of intelligent politics," which is derived by suspect means from his conceptualization of this dichotomy. These misinterpretations are due to Aron's ideological difficulties rather than intrinsic to Clausewitz's theory. T. Lamb.