Art of War by Sun Tsu
What are the main points of the Art of War by Sun Tsu?

Sun Zi Art of War (? ) is the most well-known Chinese military treatise that is known to the Chinese as well as the western world. Written around the 4th to 5th century B.C. And consisting of only 13 chapters, its value in influencing military thinking and war strategies has seldom being questioned. What is more interesting, however, is its relevance to the corporate world of business. Increasingly, military cliches have been used in the business realm. For example, terms like price wars, product wars, battle of the corporate giants, etc. have found increasing acceptance among business writers and analysts (Wee, 2002).

Art of War is taught to students with four general rationales emerged for teaching Sun Zi:

As a tool for strategic analysis

As a potential source of ideas for U.S. military operations

As a way….

Art of War by Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli understood the relationships between politics and war very well, and believed that there was a causal relationship between these two crucial pillars of society. An examination of the author's 16th century text, The Art of War, readily demonstrates as much. In Machiavelli's view, war was an essential function of politics as manifested by the state. As such, the author had very opinionated beliefs about what sort of state could optimize the function of war, what sort of effect a state had on its soldiers, and how the political virtues exemplified by the state would inherently affect its soldiers and war prospects. Within this text the author emphasizes the value of politics in terms of its effect on creating a desirable state entity, while arguing that war is nothing more than a function of the state and its politics/political agenda.

The most interesting aspect of….

Art of War
Antoine-Henri Jomini, the Art of War

Jomini's the Art of War is based on the authors experiences in the Crimean War and the Napoleonic Wars. War is presented as an art, and yet Jomini's emphasis is on strategy and decisiveness.

Author's Identity: Antoine-Henri Jomini was born in Switzerland in 1779. He came of age during the French evolution, and understood well the fusion between politics, diplomacy, and military tactics. Jomini served with both French and ussian armies. A large part of Jomini's career was spent as an adviser, strategist, and military scholar. He served as adviser to two ussian tsars and devoted the latter part of his career to writing and analysis.

Author's Purpose and Intended Audience: Jomini writes for an audience of his peers, including military generals, strategists, political maneuverers, and military scholars as well.

Historical Context of the Work: The author came of age during some of the most formative….

In Chapter Six "Weak Points and Strong," Sun Tzu declares that the first combatants in the field who awaits the arrival of the enemy "will be fresh for the fight," while those that arrive later will be exhausted and unable to fight properly. Therefore, "the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him." This type of advice could be used also in a business setting, whereby the first to arrive at negotiations holds the upper hand.

The remaining chapters include "Maneuvering," "Variation in Tactics," "The Army on the March," "Terrain," "The Nine Situations," "The Attack by Fire" and "The Use of Spies," all of which if used properly by military leaders and commanders on the battlefield will result in victory over the enemy. Interestingly, Sun Tzu's instructions in The Art of War have been used by many past military….

Careful, well-considered, and disciplined application of knowledge gained from experience, observation, and study can combine to create optimal conditions for success, in war and in business.
Further, according to Sun Tzu, commitment to remaining focused on one's strategic objectives is also very important. Toward that end, attention from those strategic objectives should not be dissipated.

One should therefore avoid petty distractions from the goals and tasks at hand, or building unnecessary complexities into one's strategic tactics and operations. However, it is also important, according to Sun Tzu, to match suitability of one's strategies and tactics to the environment and atmosphere (i.e., market conditions) within which one operates. One must try to understand, and to guard against any inherent disadvantages (and there generally always are some of these) contained within every positive competitive situation. In business, an example of this might be that of a company that becomes successful enough to expand….

Sun Tsu Art of War
Sun Tzu as Confucian Scholar-Soldier

Sun Tzu and his famous book The Art of War cannot be understood apart from the Chinese cultural and historical context that produced them, although his concepts were widely borrowed and imitated over the past 2,000 years. He was a contemporary of Confucius, after all, and his assumptions about warfare were harmonized within that philosophical tradition. Warfare was an evil, a waste and cause of disharmony and disorder, especially when it was prolonged. It was a waste of lives as well as the resources of the state, and should therefore be avoided through deterrence and clever diplomacy, and only then be used as a last resort. The most brilliant commander was the one who was able to defeat the enemy without fighting battles, although if these had to be fought then they should be won quickly and decisively.

In the Western world, The….

Sun Tzu -- Art of War
In his famous book The Art of War, Sun-zi (Sun Tzu) was evidently influenced by Confucian ideals, such as his statements about the avoiding prolonged war if possible and the most successful generals being those who could win without fighting at all. He was from the Southern, semi-barbaric state of Wu, and his book was probably written in the Warring States period or perhaps during the Han Dynasty. He never referred to barbarians at all or any ethic differences, and always stated that the greatest generals had to know themselves and the enemy. Nor did he ever demonize his opponents or call for their total destruction, but rather recommended humane treatment for prisoners of war and civilian populations. Sun Tzu relied on clever tactics, strategy and espionage rather than brute force to win victories and from beginning to end his book cast a rather negative….

Lao Tze and Sun Tzu "War"
Chicago citation

War has been a part of the human condition since humans first stood upright thousands of years ago. Every culture and society has engaged in it, while simultaneously attempting to control and eliminate it. War destroys, injures, maims, and kills not only people but entire societies. In Chinese culture, there has been many attempts to deal with the violent aspect of humanity through philosophy. Great thinkers like Confucius, Lao Tze, Sun Tzu and countless others have, through their teachings, attempted to control the violence of humans. Each of these philosopher's teachings have certain things in common, but also major differences which have caused conflict and division over the centuries. Two of these thinkers, Lao Tze and Sun Tzu share many beliefs and ideals, but their teachings also contain vast differences. Each attempted to deal with the violence and destruction caused by war with ideas….

connecting the reader with the time period in which it was written. This is why the writings of the distant past, even in translation, are among the most fascinating to modern scholars. Anthropologists such as aussure, Joseph Campbell and others were seminal in uncovering mythological themes in ancient texts. As archeology supplemented legend, the literary world found evidence that the mythical worlds evidenced by the works of antiquity was in some cases based in fact. Three of the most intriguing works of antiquity are Ramayana, The Epic of Gilgamesh, and The Art of War. Each provides the reviewer with insight as to the origins of a particular culture or geographic region.
The Ramayana represents one of the oldest epic myths of world literature. As such it has been more influential in Indian culture than any other work. The Epic, which was recounted in oral tradition long before being put to….

Sun Tzu and Clausewitz on War
War on Terror: The elevance of Historical Perspectives on War

Sarah Miller (2012) evaluated the relevance of historical texts for explaining contemporary society's efforts to combat terrorism. The two texts chosen for her essay are On War by Carl Von Clausewitz and The Art of War by Sun Tzu, with the first published in 1832 and the second about 2,500 years ago. Miller (2012) seemed surprised that the older text appeared to be more relevant and attributes this to the philosophical lens through which Sun Tzu explained the art of warfare. By contrast, the value of Clausewitz writings is limited by his emphasis on warfare tactics relevant mainly to the time period in which he lived. Miller (2012) used these points and others to argue that Sun Tzu offered the most value for governments tasked with combating a terrorist threat, in part because modern terrorist organizations….

Pre-Task Learning: Class discussion/reading of the history of the Spanish Civil War and its relationship to the approach of World War II. Continuing discussion on the specific context of the painting's creation and display, and of Pablo Picasso and his emerging and shifting abstract style of painting. Preliminary open-form discussion of possible interpretations of the painting, beginning with the more obvious macro-level signs in the painting on touching on other symbolic aspects (the Harlequin figures/patterns, animal representations, etc.).

Task Expectations: Each paper should contain personal interpretations and a reflection of personal reactions to the painting that are connected to the historical facts and larger trends discussed. Discussion of individual elements as well as the composition as a whole and the relation of the individual elements discussed to each other and to the meaning of the work as a whole should be present in all completed papers.

Grade 10 Lesson Plan

Primary Task: Create….

Art and Photojournalism
Film and photojournalism have been extremely important aspects of war since their invention. One journalist wrote, "Photographic journalism is generally accepted as an authoritative source of visual information about our times" (Steichen 5). This is especially true of war photography, because the photographer's lens captures the horror and agony of war in a split second, and immortalizes it forever. Some of the most memorable photographs of the century are war photographs, from the sailor celebrating in Times Square with his sweetheart to the assassination of a Vietcong insurgent; the photos live on in our minds, and bring back the terror and emotion of the war experience. In World War II, film and photography brought the war home to American's doorsteps, and helped them understand just what the men were facing in Europe and Japan. Photos and film have done that for every war since they were invented, and….

On War, Statecraft and Sustainability As Clark (2008) points out, sustainability has been defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development as the capability of meeting “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (p. 3). Sustainability is related to the need recognized by nations to conserve finite resources so that they are not depleted for the next generation. Intertwined with environmental sustainability are economic and social goals, as indicated by Kates, Parris and Leiserowitz (2005). Commonly included as some of the social goals in a sustainable culture are equality/equitability and a high quality of public health.
However, because conflicts arise between peoples over the use of resources, war breaks out not infrequently. War is typically defined as “armed conflict” and stands as a “direct opposition to sustainability” because nothing tends to deplete resources faster than war (Clark, 2008, p. 3). As….

Summary/Abstract The subject of terrain is covered exclusively in one of the thirteen chapters in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. In fact, terrain is addressed throughout The Art of War, so critical is positioning to tactical advantage and strategy. For example, the fourth chapter on “Tactical Dispositions” addresses positioning prior to Sun Tzu’s more formal “Classification of Terrain” in Chapter Ten. Whereas “Tactical Dispositions” covers defensive options, and relative positions vis-a-vis the enemy, “Terrain” demonstrates how variations in terrain impact strategy and outcome. Therefore, “Terrain” offers an unparalleled level of detail on the subject of geography that is of tremendous use to military strategists. Sun Tzu extends his discussion on the importance of terrain in Chapter Eleven of The Art of War, showing how terrain impacts the nine main possibilities for battleground formation and how to address challenges and crises by using skilful means.
Introduction: Why Terrain?
Even in an era of….

Art, ritual, and religion are inseparable in the aboriginal societies of Oceania. Aboriginal myths of creation and the Dreamtime are rendered in art and permeate the various types of art found throughout indigenous Australia from bark and rock paintings to the modern renditions on canvas. Similarly, the art of Pacific Islands before 1980 is inseparable from their cultural contexts. The concept of art is different in the Pacific Islands than it is for the Europeans who colonized the region. Therefore, it is important to understand both aboriginal and Pacific Island art within their own historical, cultural, and social worldview. Art was functional, symbolic, and sacred, and was tacitly decorative.
The aboriginal Australians have populated their lands for 50,000 years, and during that time developed highly sophisticated cosmologies comprising "what anthropologists say is the world's longest enduring religion," (Kiger, n.d.). Although there is a considerable amount of diversity in the exact formulation….