Sun Tzu art of war and applicability in 20th/21st century

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5. ART OF WAR
“If instructions are not clear and commands not
explicit, it is the commander‟s fault. But when
they have been made clear, and are not carried
out in accordance with military law, it is a crime
on the part of officers”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War by Samuel Griffith P. 84
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7. ART OF WAR
“Your servant has already received your
appointment as commander and when commander
is at the head of the army, he needs not accept all
the sovereign orders”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War by Samuel Griffith P. 115
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9. King Ho - Lu
General Sun Tzu
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11. Alexander The Great
Tamerlane
Sun Tzu
Genghis Khan 11

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13. ART OF WAR
Self
Excellence
Execution Strategy
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14. AIM
To apprise the audience about Sun Tzu Art of
War & its applicability in 21st Century
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15. SCHEME OF PRESENTATION
Background
Authorship of Art of War
Exposure of Sun Tzu Art of War
Salient of Art of War
Applicability in 21st Century
Asymmetric Warfare & Sun Tzu
Conclusion
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16. BACKGROUND
Sun Tzu lived around 500 BC
Sun Tzu - “Master Sun” Chi
Born in state of Chi, China
Military doctrine in 510 BC
Worked for King Ho-Lu
King Ho - Lu
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17. BACKGROUND
China divided in small states
Warring States Ch‟i
Yellow
Sea
Ch‟i & Wu most prominent Wu
South China Sea
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18. BACKGROUND
“Bing-Fa” – “Art of War”
More than 2500 years
13 Chapters
Followed by great leaders
Reference book
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19. AUTHORSHIP OF ART OF WAR
 Analysis of classical period, era extending from
551 to 249 BC
 Thirteen chapters were not composed around
500 BC, but belong to later stage
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20. AUTHORSHIP OF ART OF WAR
 100,000 armoured troops used in relation to
problems of war finances, supply &
replenishment
 Armies of this size unknown in China
before 500 BC
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21. AUTHORSHIP OF ART OF WAR
 Strategic & tactical doctrine of „The Art of War‟
is based on
• Deception
• False Appearance
• Indirect Approach
• Adaptability
• Flexible & Coordinated Manoeuvre
• Speedy Concentration
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22. AUTHORSHIP OF ART OF WAR
 Application of such tactics required highly
mobile & well trained troops
 Such formations were not common until
Warring States (453 – 221 BC)
 Sun Tzu thirteen chapters be placed in category
of „Authorship Unsettled‟
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23. EXPOSURE TO WORLD
 Art of War” was introduced to Japan around
760 AD
 Sun Tzu was first brought to attention of
western world by Father Amiot
 Published in Paris – 1772
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24. EXPOSURE TO WORLD
 Sun Tzu Art was focused in beginning of 20th
Century
 First English translation “The Art of Modern
Warfare” was published in 1905
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25. EXPOSURE TO WORLD
 Four translations in Russian language
 Later translations in
 German
 Italian
 Several other languages
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26. ART OF WAR
Applicability in 21st Century
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27. ART OF WAR
US way of War – Denial of Sun Tzu principles
Trillion Dollar war in Iraq resulted
Loosing allies Fanatic enemies
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28. ART OF WAR
“The Best victory is to
win without actual
fighting. Supreme
excellence consists in
breaking the enemy‟s
resistance without
fighting”
Sun Tzu, The Art of Modern Warfare by
Mark Mc Neilly P 5
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29. ART OF WAR
US keen to start war
Little interest in winning without war
Cost of war – Irrelevant to US regimes
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30. ART OF WAR
"Know yourself and know the enemy. If you know
the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear
the results of hundred battles. If you know
yourself but not the enemy, for every victory
gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know
neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb
in every battle“
Sun Tzu, The Art of War by Samuel Griffith P. 115
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31. ART OF WAR
War – Easy game for US
US cared less about
Muslim culture
Religion
History
Tribalism
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32. ART OF WAR
“The best thing is to take the enemy‟s country
whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so
good”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War by Samuel Griffith P. 115
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33. ART OF WAR
Iraq – Broken nation
Millions fled
Dysfunction electoral
system
Ethnic war
Terrorism & kidnapping
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34. ART OF WAR
Ops DESERT STORM
Deceived Saddam
Hussain
Amphibious Assault in
East
Landed in West
Low Causalities
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35. Deception
Enemy
Speed
Weakness
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36. SALIENT PRINCIPLES
 Win All Without Fighting
 Deception & Use of Human Intelligence
 Leadership Development
 Avoid Strength, Attack Weakness
 Speed & Preparation
 Shaping Enemy
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37. SALIENT PRICIPLE
WIN ALL WITHOUT
FIGHTING
BATTLE AVOIDANCE THEORY
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38. WIN ALL WITHOUT FIGHTING
 “Generally in war the best policy is to take a
state intact; to ruin it is inferior to this”
 “To capture the enemy‟s army is better than to
destroy; to take intact a battalion, a company
or a five-man squad is better to destroy them”
 “To gain one hundred victories in one
hundred battles is not the highest excellence;
To defeat the enemy‟s army without doing
battle is the height of excellence”
Sun Tzu and Art of Modern Warfare by Mark McNeilly P 15,18
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39. WIN ALL WITHOUT FIGHTING
 Five principles provide means to achieve
 To accomplish nation‟s objective battles are not
necessarily proper means
 Better to win “without fighting”
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40. WIN ALL WITHOUT FIGHTING
 Destroying target without firing bullet
 More valuable thinking & workable options to
decision makers
 1962, Cuban Missile Crisis
 1994, Haiti Crisis
 1996, Taiwan Strait Missile Crisis
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41. WIN ALL WITHOUT FIGHTING
“War is a matter of vital importance to the
state; the province of life or death; the road
to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be
thoroughly studied”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War by Samuel Griffith, P. 91
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42. WIN ALL WITHOUT FIGHTING
 Calculations/estimates essential before war
 Avoid actions if risks not properly deliberated
 If not, force will be in jeopardy & nation be
ruined
 German invasion of USSR in 1941
 Hitler‟s illogical determination resulted in failure
of Ops Barbarossa
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44. WIN ALL WITHOUT FIGHTING
“What is of supreme importance in war is to
attack the enemy‟s strategy. Next best is to
disrupt his alliances. The next best is to attack
his army”
Sun Tzu and Art of Modern Warfare by Mark McNeilly P 21
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45. WIN ALL WITHOUT FIGHTING
 Strategies with no significant benefits over
opponent, may win a battle but will
eventually lose war
 Doolittle‟s bombing had no significant
tactical effect
 Disrupt Japan‟s national military strategy &
war plans
 Led to Japan‟s total defeat
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46. SALIENT PRINCIPLE
DECEPTION & USE OF
HUMAN INTELLIGENCE
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47. DECEPTION & HUMAN INTELLIGENCE
“Know the enemy and know yourself; in
hundred battles you will never be in peril.
When you are ignorant of the enemy but know
yourself, your chances of winning or losing
are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and
of yourself, you are certain in every battle to
be in peril”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War P. 5
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48. DECEPTION & HUMAN INTELLIGENCE
 Capable, make enemy believe that we are
incapable
 Active, demonstrate that we are inactive
 Leaving, mislead to think that we are
approaching
 Employ “Chi” (extraordinary force) & “Cheng”
(normal force)
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49. DECEPTION & HUMAN INTELLIGENCE
 Deceived Iraqi ground forces
 Deploying several U.S Navy SEAL along Kuwaiti
coast
 Prevented huge human loss in 100 hrs battle
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51. DECEPTION & HUMAN INTELLIGENCE
 Local agents
 Local inhabitants of area
 Inward agents
 Grieved or rejected enemy officials
 Converted agents
 Enemy agents used by giving bribes
 Doomed agents
 Own agents used to leak fabricated information
 Surviving agents
 Own clever, talented & loyal agents
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52. DECEPTION & HUMAN INTELLIGENCE
 Utilizing secret agents & preventing enemy
from using them, will stand much better
chance of victory
 Afghanistan & Iraq – coalition forces relied
on intelligence for success
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53. SALIENT PRINCIPLE
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
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54. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
“There are five qualities which are dangerous in a
General
 If reckless, can be killed
 If cowardly, can be captured
 If quick-tempered can be made fool
 Too delicate sense of honor can calumniate him
 Compassionate nature can be harassed”
Sun Tzu and Art of Modern Warfare by Mark McNeilly P 210
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55. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
 Military leaders are highest level thinkers &
political military experts
 Think in multiple domains & operate flexibly
to manage change
 Elements of national power as well as
interrelationship among them
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57. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
“Before going for the battle, one who calculates
will win. Many calculations mean victory but with
few calculations, no victory”
“If a general who heeds my strategy is employed
he is certain to win. Retain him! When one who
refuses to listen to my strategy is employed, he is
certain to be defeated. Dismiss him”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War by Samuel Griffith P. 96
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59. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
“He whose generals are able and not interfered
with by the sovereign will be victorious”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War by Samuel Griffith P. 96
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60. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
 Political leaders should not interfere with
military leaders during conduct of war
 Political leaders should delegate authority to
commander to accomplish mission
 Affected morale, destroyed trust &
complicated relationship between civilians &
military
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61. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
“General who regards his men as infants, they
will march with him into the deepest valleys.
He treats them as his own beloved sons and
they will die with him”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War by Samuel Griffith P. 203
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62. SALIENT PRINCIPLE
AVOID STRENGTH
ATTACK WEAKNESS
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63. AVOID STRENGTH ATTACK WEAKNESS
“Now an army may be likened to water, for just
as flowing water avoids the heights and
hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids
strength and strike weakness”
Sun Tzu and Art of Modern Warfare by Mark McNeilly P 33
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64. AVOID STRENGTH ATTACK WEAKNESS
 Enabled forces in Gulf War to defeat Iraqis in
four days suffering almost no casualties
 Avoid strength & attack weakness is key to
achieve goal
 Focusing resources against enemy's critical
weak point, success more easily achieved
 Attacking weakness by selecting key
resource
 Create weakness through preemptive strike
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65. AVOID STRENGTH ATTACK WEAKNESS
Attacking Weakness by Selecting Key Resource
“That you may march a thousand li without
wearying yourself is because you travel where there
is no enemy. Go into emptiness, strike voids,
bypass what he defends, hit him where he does not
expect you”
Sun Tzu and Art of Modern Warfare by Mark McNeilly P 47
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66. AVOID STRENGTH ATTACK WEAKNESS
Attacking Weakness by Selecting Key Resource
 Attack weakest part of enemy defence by
selecting key resource
 Submarine campaign in Pacific theatre by United
States against Japan
 WW-II, US Submarines were able to cut off island
of Japan
 Extreme shortage of logistics required to
continue war
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67. AVOID STRENGTH ATTACK WEAKNESS
Creating Weakness Through Preemptive Strike
“The potential of troops skillfully commanded in
battle may be compared to that of round boulders
which roll down from mountain heights. Thus one
need to use but little strength to achieve much”
Sun Tzu and Art of Modern Warfare by Mark McNeilly P 51
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68. AVOID STRENGTH ATTACK WEAKNESS
Creating Weakness Through Pre Emptive Strike
 Weakness may be created through preemptive
strikes
 Strategy employed by Israelis at beginning of Six
Day War in 1967
 Preemptive strikes gave advantage to negotiate
 Israel made no serious effort to come to terms
with Arabs
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69. SALIENT PRINCIPLE
SPEED & PREPARATION
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70. SPEED & PREPARATION
“Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage
of the enemy's un-preparedness; travel by
unexpected routes and strike him where he has
taken no precautions”
Sun Tzu and Art of Modern Warfare by Mark McNeilly P 96
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71. SPEED & PREPARATION
 Forces must move rapidly to secure ground
 Substitute for resources
 Shocks & surprises enemy
 Critical to exploit weakness
 Builds momentum
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73. SPEED & PREPARATION
“War is a matter of vital importance to the state;
the province of life or death; the road to survival
or ruin. It is mandatory that it be thoroughly
studied. Therefore, appraise it in terms of five
fundamental factors and make comparison of the
seven elements later named, so you may assess
its essentials”
Sun Tzu The Art of War by Samuel Griffith P. 91
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74. SPEED & PREPARATION
 Morale
 Weather
 Terrain
 Command
 Doctrine
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75. SPEED & PREPARATION
Morale
“Regard your soldiers as your children and they
will advance to the deepest valley and will die
with you”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War by Samuel Griffith P 95
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76. SPEED & PREPARATION
Weather
 Weather was a key factor for selecting D Day for
Normandy landing
 Allied forces exploited uncertainty of weather
as factor of surprise
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77. SPEED & PREPARATION
Terrain
“Know the ground, Know the
weather, your victory will be
total”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War by Samuel Griffith P. 96
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78. SPEED & PREPARATION
Command
 Wisdom
 Sincerity
 Humanity
 Courage
 Strictness
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79. SPEED & PREPARATION
Command
 Recklessness
 Cowardly
 Quick tempered
 Delicate of honor
 Over concerned for his
men
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80. SPEED & PREPARATION
Doctrine
“By Doctrine I mean organisation, control and
assignment of appropriate ranks to officers,
regulation of supply routes, and the provision of
principle items used by the army”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War by Samuel Griffith P. 95
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81. SPEED & PREPARATION
 Wiseness of ruler
 Ability of commander
 Advantage of nature & terrain
 Discipline enforcement
 Strength of army
 Training of officers & men
 Rewards & punishments
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82. SPEED & PREPARATION
 Operations Desert Storm – Success
 Movement of thousand of troops,
equipment, food, fuel, bullets & bombs was
a feat unprecedented after WW-II
 Ensured victory within 100 hrs of ground
battle with minimum causalities
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83. SALIENT PRINCIPLE
SHAPING THE ENEMY
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84. SHAPING THE ENEMY
“Therefore, those skills in war bring the enemy
to the field of battle and are not brought there by
him”
Sun Tzu and Art of Modern Warfare by Mark McNeilly P. 125
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85. SHAPING THE ENEMY
 Leader must first make opponent conform to
his
 Strategy
 Rules
 Will
 Make enemy meet at time & place of his
choice
 Strategy must utilize direct & indirect
approaches
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86. SHAPING THE ENEMY
“He who knows the art of the direct; "Cheng;" and
the indirect; "Ch'i;" approach will be victorious.
Such is the art of maneuvering”
Sun Tzu and Art of Modern Warfare by Mark McNeilly P. 29
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87. SHAPING THE ENEMY
 Possible to misdirect attention of enemy
leaders
 Take them by surprise
 Put them off balance
 Exploit the resulting advantage
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88. SHAPING THE ENEMY
 Holding Strategic Position
 Attacking Enemy‟s Strategy
 Use of Alliances Against Enemy
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89. SHAPING THE ENEMY
Holding Strategic Positions
 Raw materials such as oil have caused
countries to go to war
 Strategic advantage through
 Technology
 Nuclear weapons
 Diplomatic positions
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90. SHAPING THE ENEMY
Attacking Enemy‟s Strategy
 Supreme excellence is to attack an enemy‟s
plan
 Attack was delayed and USSR attacked their
strategy
 Resulted in successful destruction of German
forces at Kursk
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91. SHAPING THE ENEMY
Use of Alliance Against Enemy
 Prevent enemies from combining
 Avoid attacking powerful alliance
 Separate main enemy from allies before
attacking
 Skilful use of allies
 Do not choose wrong allies
 Know how to maintain an alliance & when to end
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92. ASYMMETRIC WARFARE
 Conflict deviating from norm, or indirect
approach
 No specific tactics
 Deception, indirect approach, avoiding strength
& attacking weakness
 Avoid confrontation with enemy's strength
 Prevent larger enemy from effectively utilizing
larger force in effective manner
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93. ASYMMETRIC WARFARE
“As flowing water avoids the heights and hastens
to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and
strikes weakness”
“All warfare is based on deception”
Sun Tzu and Art of Modern Warfare by Mark McNeilly P. 29
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94. ASYMMETRIC WARFARE
 Israel & Palestinian organizations is classic
case of asymmetric warfare
 Utilized asymmetric tactics i.e small gunfights,
cross border sniping, rocket attacks & suicide
bombing
 Sri Lankan government & Liberation Tigers of
Tamil saw large scale asymmetric warfare
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95. CONCLUSION
Study the past, understand the future
Guide to all types of warfare
World‟s most enduring strategic thinker
Perspective of war Element of strength
Strategy Leadership
Use of Intelligence
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96. Q&A