In this article, I analyze the use of historical counterfactuals in the Campaign of 1815 by Carl von Clausewitz (1780–1831). Such is the importance of counterfactuals in this work that its gist can be given in a series of 25 counterfactuals. I claim that a central role is played by evaluative counterfactuals. This specific form of counterfactuals is part of a didactic method that allows Clausew...

The concept of strategy has been developed first in a military and political context. Military strategy books, such as The Art of War by Sun Tzu and On War by von Clausewitz, are famous and have become business classics. Sun Tzu developed the tactical side of military strategy and Von Clausewitz highlighted the dynamic and unpredictable nature of military strategy. The growth of firms and indus...

The concept of strategy has been developed first in a military and political context. Military strategy books, such as The Art of War by Sun Tzu and On War by von Clausewitz, are famous and have become business classics. Sun Tzu developed the tactical side of military strategy and Von Clausewitz highlighted the dynamic and unpredictable nature of military strategy. The growth of firms and indus...

People use the word “strategy” to connote a wide variety of meanings. (Figure 1) The word’s origin is military, dating back to Sun Tzu in the fifth century BC. But even in modern times, it’s most often associated with military leaders such as Clausewitz, Moltke, and Liddell Hart. Nearly all military definitions of strategy involve objec-tives, winning, application of resources, and execution of...

Why is there delay in contests? In this paper we follow and extend the line of reasoning of Carl von Clausewitz to explain delay. For a given contest technology, delay may occur if there is an asymmetry between defense and attack, if the expected change in relative strengths is moderate, and if the additional cost of investment in future strength is low. * We thank two anonymous referees and th...