The Clash of the Trinities: A New Theoretical Analysis of the General Nature of War
MAJ Daniel D. Maurer
Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press
"Major Daniel Maurer begins assembling his framework by respectfully questioning the received wisdom that Clausewitz was the last and most comprehensive word on the subject of war’s underlying nature. First, despite some common ground regarding the relevance of war’s political basis, he finds no consensus (no “unified field theory”) among practitioners, presidents, political scientists, sociologists, or historians—from Clausewitz to Wylie to Keegan—that satisfactorily accounts for all of war’s varying shades, and which legitimately recognizes its basic elemental components, its evolving character, and the “Why?” that animates or inspires parties to engage in conflict."