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¶ … nature of war is noted to be persistent and widely remains the same over time; it is violent and leads to conflicts due to clashing political perspectives, claims casualties most of whom are innocent civilians and also disrupts the societal fabric at the end of the war. Clausewitz formulated a trinity in a bid to explain what war is hinged on and why conflicts often lead to war.
Clausewitz (2006) pointed out at Passion (people), Policy (government), and Probability (Army) as the three pillars upon which war is hinged. He calls these 'the paradoxical trinity' and that they are the three magnets on which war is hinged. His emphasis was more on the romance and stressed on how the different aspects of the paradoxical trinity interact with each other.
The trinity is an interactive set of three forces that drive wars in the actual world. According to Clausewitz (2006) the paradoxical trinity is made up of primordial violence, enmity and hatred that he regarded as blind natural forces. The people aspect of the trinity is manifest in the amount of violence, hatred and passion experienced in a war situation. Probability in the trinity is manifest in the character of the army and commander which gives the direction in terms of chance and probability that the war will break out or when it will stop, and lastly the policy pillar in the trinity is manifest in the Political aims of a given group engaged in a conflict and are expressed as rational calculations (Tziarras, 2013).
Critical examination of the paradoxical trinity points at 'people (passion)' pillar of the trinity as the most crucial and the highest determinant of the direction a conflict takes, whether it grows to a fully fledged...
This is exemplified in the central roles that are played by the people/passion in any conflict, roles that would dictate the progress in a conflict. In all wars, passions are triggered and deeply embedded among the people before progressing to insinuate possibility of war. With the passions triggered, people have in them the urge to go to war and hence play a major role in the commencement of wars. This urge can be from some policies by the government or even actions by the military but must be experienced through the people. The government policies can be outlined, the army commander can have his say but if the people are not engaged and not willing to go to war, the war will inevitably stall. The actions of the people are what determine the occurrence of war or otherwise.
It is also worth noting that the scope of the courage of people and talent they display in a war circumstance, will enjoy predominance in the realm of probability war breaking out and is dependent on chance of the characters of the commander and the army, which in this case are secondary to the passion of the people to go to war. Therefore, if the people have their minds set on going to war, the other factors such as commander play a complimentary role.
The main driving force of going to war still remains the urge that the people have and hence the importance of people in the trinity. The decision of going or not going to war solely lies among the people and thus they are a major determining factor on the course of an impending war.
Secondly people are associated with irrational forces, these are emotions of primordial violence, hatred and enmity and they are what…
References
Bassford, C. & Villacres, E.(2010). Reclaiming the Clausewitzian Trinity. Retrieved march 16, 2013 from http://www.clausewitz.com/readings/Bassford/Trinity/TRININTR.htm
Gillie, M.(2009). Interpreting Clausewitz's Miraculous Trinity. Retrieved March 16,2013 from http://www.clausewitz.com/readings/Gillie-ThesisAntithesisSynthesis.htm
Tziarras, Z.(2013). Clausewitz's Remarkable Trinity Today. Retrieved march 16,2013 from http://thegwpost.com/2011/11/09/clausewitz%E2%80%99s-remarkable-trinity-today/
Carl Von Clausewitz, (2006). On War. (Indexed Edition) Michael Howard & Peter Paret (eds).
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