Illuminating Homes with LEDs in India: Rapid Market Creation Towards Low-carbon Technology Transition in a Developing Country

Ajinkya Shrish Kamat, Radhika Khosla 

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Near-term climate change mitigation calls for technological innovation and widespread implementation of appropriate technologies. This is salient in emerging economies, where impending socio-economic and infrastructural transitions hold immense potential for locking-in low-carbon development pathways. Yet, little is understood about how developing countries can scale appropriate technology transitions, given their often underdeveloped technological innovation capabilities and supporting infrastructures and finances. This paper examines a recent, rapid, and ongoing transition of India's lighting market to light emitting diode (LED) technology, from a negligible market share to LEDs becoming the dominant lighting products within five years, despite the country's otherwise limited visibility in the global solid-state lighting industry. 

Annual sales of LED bulbs grew more than 130 times to over 650 million bulbs between 2014–2018, with over 30 billion kWh of estimated annual energy savings. Focusing on this striking story of technology transition, this paper analyzes India's LED uptake using semi-structured interviews and drawing on the technology innovation systems literature. The results show that the success of transition coexists with its share of shortfalls, and that there is an important tension between the lowering of upfront costs of low-carbon technologies and the efforts to enhance domestic technological capabilities. The paper discusses the results for the Indian LED case and emphasizes the importance of consistent strategic action taking into account all (and not limited) parts of the technology innovation system, while also providing insights on how mitigation technologies can be developed and deployed in developing countries.

India: Murderous Deception In Chhattisgarh – Analysis

By Deepak Kumar Nayak*
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There is a necessary and great difference between lives sacrificed to secure quantifiable and enduring gain, and lives simply wasted, thrown away, without plan or purpose, to sheer strategic or tactical stupidity. — Where the Buck Stops, 2010

No ‘solution’ has any relevance whatsoever without a clear detailing of the resource configuration and the objective context within which it is to be applied. Yet, virtually the entire counter-insurgency (CI) discourse in India has remained doctrinaire, with almost no reference to the nuts and bolts of what is available, a coherent strategy into which these capacities are woven, and how this is to be implemented. — The Dreamscape of Solutions, 2010

On March 21, 2020, Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres ambushed a Police partyin the dense forests of Elmaguda close to Kasalpad and Minpa villages in the Chintagufa area in the Sukma District of Chhattisgarh, killing 17 security personnel [12 District Reserve Guards, DRG, and five Special Task Force, STF], and injuring another 15. The Maoists also looted at least 15 weapons from the possession of the slain personnel – 12 AK 47 assault rifles, one Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL), one INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) assault rifle and one Excalibur, the upgraded variant of the INSAS rifle.

Can India Avert a Health Apocalypse?

BY SUMIT GANGULY 
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As India braces for the rapid spread of the coronavirus, its health care system offers limited comfort. The country spends only 3.66 percent of its GDP on public health, while some of its smaller neighbors such as Nepal (6.29 percent) spend a much higher proportion. Advanced economies are even further ahead: The United States, for example, spends about 17 percent of its GDP on health care; Germany and the United Kingdom spend 11.14 percent and 9.76 percent, respectively.

Other indicators are not heartening either. India has just 0.5 hospital beds for every 1,000 people living there; the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends at least five. India averages 0.8 doctors for every 1,000 citizens; even Italy, which has been badly hit by the coronavirus outbreak, has five times as many doctors per capita.

There is ample reason to fear that if the coronavirus disperses rapidly through a country as densely populated as India—it may already have done so—it could overwhelm the country’s medical infrastructure. Such misgivings are hardly new: Given the hapless quality of public health infrastructure in India, they are in fact understandable. Yet the Indian state somehow seems to be remarkably resilient when confronted with crises. Three compelling examples from the past few decades suggest that the country has an ability to mitigate dire health challenges even though it has displayed a lax attitude toward addressing routine public health needs.

Pakistan: Changing The Status In Gilgit Baltistan – Analysis

By Ajit Kumar Singh*
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Nasir Aziz Khan, an activist from Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK), speaking at the 43rd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Geneva, on March 10, 2020, raised deep concern over “growing human rights violations taking place in PoK [PaK] and Gilgit Baltistan”. He stated that “peaceful political activists and members of civil society have become targets of state infrastructure”.

He urged the UNHRC to ask, “Pakistan to release all peaceful political prisoners including Baba Jan and Iftikhar Hussain and their colleagues who were trailed under Anti-terrorist act and facing 40 to 80 years imprisonment.”

Baba Jan is one of the most popular leaders in the region, who is serving a life sentence in prison for his alleged role in inciting violence in the region in 2010.

Khan also stressed that “terrorists’ network and infrastructure are very much intact in these areas”. Though he did not specify the groups, he added that “leaders of banned terrorist organizations are roaming freely”.

Beating COVID-19 and the Economic Pandemic

SHANG-JIN WEI

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NEW YORK – Back in January, I predicted that the spread of the new COVID-19 coronavirus in China would reach a turning point by the second or third week of February. Indeed, the total number of serious and critical cases in the country has been declining since February 22, and there have been no new cases in the last few days other than international travelers arriving in China. Unfortunately, new infections outside China have risen very fast, with potentially disastrous consequences for public health and the global economy.

The substantial increase in the scale and scope of government action needed to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic should be viewed as an unprecedented form of short-term systemic insurance. This approach requires not only vast government spending but also a temporary state-led reorganization of the entire economy.

Faced with this pandemic, policymakers can draw several useful lessons from China and other countries that were among the first to be hit by COVID-19. This is especially useful for countries that have not yet experienced a major outbreak. Above all, they must act fast.

China Stalls Gas Imports As Demand Slides – Analysis

By Michael Lelyveld

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Frictions are rising between China and its energy suppliers as the world’s leading importer tries to cancel natural gas deliveries due to slumping demand.

On March 5, multiple news agencies reported that China’s largest national oil company had suspended gas imports, citing force majeure, a legal exclusion from contract commitments in cases of circumstances beyond a party’s control.

The notification to suppliers followed weeks of plunging demand as the coronavirus epidemic brought economic activity and consumption to a near-total halt in February.

This week, in one of the first official economic reports during the crisis period, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that industrial production fell 13.5 percent in the first two months of 2020 from a year before. Power generation dropped 8.2 percent.

The depth of the decline and the import rejection may challenge the government’s assurances that production has already started to recover as virus-free manufacturers cautiously get back to work.

The Oil Price Shock: Who’s Most Vulnerable in the Coronavirus Slump?

By Amy M. Jaffe

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A long dip in oil prices could put several oil-producing states under great strain, but some are better positioned than others to weather the downturn from the coronavirus.

The coronavirus pandemic has rapidly eroded global demand for oil, sending prices plunging by more than 50 percent since the beginning of the year. The steepest drop occurred in March, after a failed conclave among major petrostates, including Russia and Saudi Arabia, prompted Riyadh to flood markets with oil.

Most governments in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are highly reliant on oil revenue, but some are better positioned than others to ride out a long slump in oil prices. The external breakeven oil price is a useful yardstick for measuring how prepared oil producers are to withstand a downturn in prices. For instance, countries with high breakeven prices, such as Algeria, could feel greater pressure than peers to cut spending, raise revenue, borrow, or take other actions to cope. Countries with relatively low breakeven prices, such as Russia, are generally more insulated.

The Oil Price Shock: Who’s Most Vulnerable in the Coronavirus Slump?

By Amy M. Jaffe

Source Link

A long dip in oil prices could put several oil-producing states under great strain, but some are better positioned than others to weather the downturn from the coronavirus.

The coronavirus pandemic has rapidly eroded global demand for oil, sending prices plunging by more than 50 percent since the beginning of the year. The steepest drop occurred in March, after a failed conclave among major petrostates, including Russia and Saudi Arabia, prompted Riyadh to flood markets with oil.

Most governments in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are highly reliant on oil revenue, but some are better positioned than others to ride out a long slump in oil prices. The external breakeven oil price is a useful yardstick for measuring how prepared oil producers are to withstand a downturn in prices. For instance, countries with high breakeven prices, such as Algeria, could feel greater pressure than peers to cut spending, raise revenue, borrow, or take other actions to cope. Countries with relatively low breakeven prices, such as Russia, are generally more insulated.

The Coming Global Coronavirus Contraction – Analysis

By Dan Steinbock

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Despite China’s success in containment, the novel coronavirus is exploding in the US and Europe. The contraction will shake economies, politics and governments worldwide. 

As the accumulated confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) continue to soar, there is no immediate deceleration in sight. The official figures are just the tip of the iceberg. In the US and Europe, mobilization is 1-2 months late. 

In China, the impact of the coronavirus is easing, but imported cases have only begun. Outside China, epidemiologists currently anticipate a peak around June. If that’s the case, economic damage in China would be largely limited to the first quarter, but international economic damage would endure into the second quarter, and in the most affected countries well beyond. 

In early March, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected global growth to fall 0.1 percentage points from the expected 3.3%. The estimate was too optimistic. In view of current data, a global contraction could cause economic growth prospects to plunge closer to 2% and below. The explosive growth of virus cases in the US and Europe will compound those rates in the rest of the world – which, in turn, could further undermine the year-end outlook (Figure).

The Coming Crisis Along the Iran-Pakistan Border

By Muhammad Akbar Notezai

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The killing of Qassem Soleimani at the beginning of 2020 created uncertainty over Iran’s role not only in the Middle East, but in South Asia as well. As the head of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) — the unit responsible for external military and covert operations — Soleimani extensively increased Iran’s sphere of influence in the region.

Pakistan, for its part, expressed “deep concern” over potential rising U.S.-Iran tensions in the aftermath of Soleimani’s killing. Pakistan’s concern is understandable. As Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi stated, geography inexorably links Pakistan’s security with stability in the Middle East. This is particularly the case in relation to Iran, due to the nearly 600 mile border shared with Iran along Pakistan’s Balochistan province. With turbulent Iran-Pakistan strategic relations over the latter’s increasing tilt toward Saudi Arabia, the Balochistan border has also been a site of conflict, with each side lambasting the other for providing sanctuaries to militant groups in their respective provinces.

Soleimani’s death is likely to increase militancy for two reasons. First, his successor, Ismail Qaani, is focused on Iran’s eastern border and on drug cartel movement in the border region. This is highly likely to escalate the tension in the region in the coming years. Second, Baloch Sunni militancy is rearing its head, and Qaani, having been looking after Iran’s priorities in the region, is likely to respond to this trend with more force than his predecessor, Soleimani.

China’s New Silk Road Strategy and the Middle East

By Dr. Mordechai Chaziza
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In recent years, the People’s Republic of China has significantly increased its economic and diplomatic engagement with the Middle East. Most of Beijing’s investment in the region focuses on energy, infrastructure construction, nuclear power, new energy sources, agriculture, and finance. These investments serve not only China’s interests but also those of Middle Eastern countries hoping to boost their economies as a means of strengthening social stability.

Outside the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East is likely the most critical region in the world for China, connecting it to the Mediterranean and Europe. It is a critical source of much-needed energy resources and an area of expanding economic ties. In turn, Middle Eastern countries see Beijing as the most important world capital after Washington because of China’s considerable economic power.

China’s policy toward the Middle East is necessarily defined within a complex regional context that involves a multitude of local rivalries enmeshed with serious great power competition. The Chinese policy is to maintain a balance among several priorities that are at times in conflict. These priorities are to:

China’s Military Claims to Be Virus-Free

BY JOEL WUTHNOW
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U.S. observers have widely criticized China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) for its lackluster initial response to the 2019 coronavirus outbreak. After the deployment of hundreds of PLA medics and other support personnel into Wuhan and other cities, those critiques are now less tenable. PLA personnel have been on the front lines of the crisis for the past two months, reprising roles they have played during other emergencies, such as the 2002-2004 SARS crisis and the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and providing relief to stressed local health systems.

The question now is whether the PLA has been forthcoming about its ability to withstand the withering effects of the virus on its own personnel. On March 3, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman claimed that not a single PLA service member—out of a force of some 2 million—had been infected, pointing to the effectiveness of the PLA’s force protection measures (such as avoidance of large gatherings).

Coronavirus Will Change the World Permanently. Here’s How.

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For many Americans right now, the scale of the coronavirus crisis calls to mind 9/11 or the 2008 financial crisis—events that reshaped society in lasting ways, from how we travel and buy homes, to the level of security and surveillance we’re accustomed to, and even to the language we use.

Politico Magazine surveyed more than 30 smart, macro thinkers this week, and they have some news for you: Buckle in. This could be bigger.

A global, novel virus that keeps us contained in our homes—maybe for months—is already reorienting our relationship to government, to the outside world, even to each other. Some changes these experts expect to see in the coming months or years might feel unfamiliar or unsettling: Will nations stay closed? Will touch become taboo? What will become of restaurants?

But crisis moments also present opportunity: more sophisticated and flexible use of technology, less polarization, a revived appreciation for the outdoors and life’s other simple pleasures. No one knows exactly what will come, but here is our best stab at a guide to the unknown ways that society—government, healthcare, the economy, our lifestyles and more—will change.Click on a subject to skip straight to its entries.

Add Coronavirus to Other Crises, and the Middle East Faces a Catastrophe

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The “Arab Spring” is remembered as the most disruptive political event to shake the Middle East since the fall of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. Purported presidents-for-life were pushed from office, three countries descended into civil war, and the accepted balance between the governed and their governments was turned on its head, if only for a time.

The Middle East is now on the verge of an even greater set of disruptions — ones that are likely to shake the region to its core. Irrespective of a debate in the United States of how much attention it should devote to the Middle East, these changes will rock a wide range of U.S. security interests in the region itself and around the globe.

As Iran Reels, Trump Aides Clash Over Escalating Military Showdown

By Mark Mazzetti, Helene Cooper, Julian E. Barnes, Alissa J. Rubin and Eric Schmitt
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WASHINGTON — President Trump was getting ready to declare the coronavirus a “national emergency,” but inside the White House last Thursday, a tense debate erupted among the president and his top advisers on a far different subject: whether the United States should escalate military action against Iran, a longtime American rival that has been devastated by the epidemic.

One group, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Robert C. O’Brien, the national security adviser, urged a tough response to rocket attacks that had killed two American troops at a base north of Baghdad, arguing that tough action while Iran’s leaders were battling the coronavirus ravaging the country could finally push them into direct negotiations.

But Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pushed back. The Pentagon and intelligence agencies did not have clear evidence that the attacks, launched by the Shiite militia group Khataib Hezbollah, had been ordered by Iran, they argued, and warned that a large-scale response could draw the United States into a wider war with Iran and rupture already strained relations with Iraq.

The military’s position prevailed, at least for the time being. Mr. Trump authorized airstrikes against five militia weapons depots inside Iraq, carried out at night to limit the possible human toll. 

Who Is Really Causing Climate Change?

by Mark New
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Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.

If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz

How much climate change is natural? How much is man made?

As someone who has been working on climate change detection and its causes for over 20 years I was both surprised and not surprised that I was asked to write on this topic by The Conversation. For nearly all climate scientists, the case is proven that humans are the overwhelming cause of the long-term changes in the climate that we are observing. And that this case should be closed.

Despite this, climate denialists continue to receive prominence in some media which can lead people into thinking that man-made climate change is still in question. So it’s worth going back over the science to remind ourselves just how much has already been established.

The Coronavirus Is a Test for the West

JUDY DEMPSEY

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It won’t happen here, not in Europe. It’s taking place far away, across the world, in China. Such was the refrain until the coronavirus struck northern Italy and with a terrible vengeance.

Until then, much attention in Europe was focused on how the Chinese Communist Party had imposed draconian methods to contain the virus and equally draconian methods to silence criticism. Such measures were not for the West.

Well, it has taken the first road now after European governments saw what happened in Italy. As a result, most of Europe is now in shutdown. French President Emmanuel Macron has put France on what he calls a war footing in order to fight the virus.

Depending on where you live, some people believe the measures adopted by their governments are legitimate. Others—some of my Berlin neighbors for example (and, by the way, two of them are doctors)—believe the reactions are over-exaggerated. Forget the fact that thousands across Europe have already died. And don’t even think about how poor countries will cope. The instruction “wash your hands with soap as often as possible” is a luxury for some populations.

The Lessons from Italy’s Covid-19 Mistakes

Ferdinando Giugliano
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Italy is doubling down on its lockdown strategy to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, halting all non-essential economic activities for two weeks. There are early signs that these draconian steps are paying off, but the human and economic costs will be steep.

The government made mistakes, ones that the rest of the Western world should have learned from but didn’t. Italy has surpassed China as the country with the most deaths from Covid-19, according to the official data. Nearly 5,500 Italians have lost their lives to the disease, compared with less than 3,300 Chinese — even though Italy’s population is barely 4% that of China’s. Almost 60,000 individuals have tested positive for the virus, more than double the number in Spain and Germany.

Italy was the first European country to discover a serious domestic outbreak, which helps in part to explain why it is now so widespread now. Other countries — including the France, the U.K. and even the U.S. — appear to be merely tracking Italy with just a few weeks of delay. Italy may have also been unlucky: Because it faced the beginning of the epidemic before others, it was caught off guard.

As the West Panics, Putin Is Watching

BY ELISABETH BRAW
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Europe is in disarray. Millions of people are under lockdown, the private sector is on its knees, governments are struggling to counter a completely unexpected adversary while maintaining some semblance of order. And that’s just COVID-19. Imagine the impact of an additional crisis at such a moment, caused by one of the West’s adversaries.

“God is watching us from a distance,” sang Bette Midler. U.S. and European leaders can be sure that somebody else is also watching them from a distance, too: Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders of countries competing with the West.

The new coronavirus has, as of March 23, killed more than 14,000 people and infected over 341,000. The virus has wiped out all U.S. stock market gains made during Donald Trump’s presidency and caused the British pound to drop to a level not seen since the early 1980s. BMW, Nissan, Daimler, Volkswagen, Fiat, Peugeot, and other carmakers have halted their manufacturing in Europe. General Motors and Ford have closed all their production in the United States. Deutsche Bank is predicting the worst global economic downturn since the end of World War II. The International Labor Organization has issued warnings of 25 million job losses worldwide.

Europe’s Coronavirus Test

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The novel coronavirus of 2019, or COVID-19, is sweeping through the European continent. After an initially lukewarm response, European leaders have taken increasingly decisive steps in the face of this massive challenge. Italy is in a countrywide lockdown, with over 30,000 declared cases. Spain, Germany, and France each have over 10,000 people who have tested positive. Thousands more cases have been identified throughout the rest of Europe. And all governments are bluntly telling their citizens the naked truth: this is only the visible tip of the iceberg, and things will get much worse over the next few weeks.

They are correct in their assessment. To Europeans, the COVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost a public health crisis, as it is for the rest of the world. But it also bears a distinctive political and economic challenge to the European Union.

On the one hand, the European project is deeply rooted in principles and policies, such as solidarity and the freedom of movement for persons and goods, that find themselves at odds with the measures national European governments are now forced to implement—confining their population at home, closing borders, and focusing limited national resources on their own infrastructure. On the other hand, the European Union itself has very little competence, according to the EU Treaties, when it comes to health policy, and this matter remains largely in the hands of individual member states. Yet there is a broad expectation, in Europe and abroad, that the European Union will take charge of the matter and direct the response to the COVID-19 crisis. Citizens worried about their physical and economic safety do not care about treaty limitations.

How the US can avoid COVID-19’s geopolitical perils

by Frederick Kempe

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The latest plot twist is a stunner in our ongoing global drama, Major Power Struggle in the Era of Coronavirus.

President Xi Jinping, who just days ago seemed to have been put on the ropes by this killer pathogen, appears to have turned the tables on the disease, his critics, and his ideological adversaries. Some initially thought the virus might even cost him his job.

Instead, his authoritarian colossus, the People’s Republic of China, is rapidly leveraging its position of being the first country to emerge from the worst of COVID-19. To be sure, China is still suffering its biggest economic hit since the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976, with still-incalculable damage to growth, industrial production, and its role in global supply chains.

Yet with head-spinning speed, President Xi is revving up his stalled economy with fiscal stimulus and is tightening the screws of his authoritarian surveillance state with new technologies. He is ramping up a domestic and international publicity campaign, trumpeting his triumph over the virus, and donning the garb of the global champion working to protect others.

Guarding Against Foreign Interference In Elections – Analysis

By Stephanie Neubronner
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Developed electoral processes in mature economies in the West have been compromised by external tampering. Singapore has not had to deal with serious cases of foreign interference in its elections. This could, however, change in the future. What can be done to pre-empt this?

The release of the Electoral Boundaries Review Report on 13 March 2020 suggests that Singapore’s next general election is just around the corner. With various political parties already gearing up for the next election, it is crucial that Singapore does not lose sight of the importance of protecting itself from foreign interference.

Foreign interference is not a new threat jeopardising the security, unity and autonomy of states. Throughout history, nations have attempted to interfere in other states’ politics for their own benefit for a multitude of reasons. While the basis of foreign state motivations might not have changed much, the use of technology to amplify and markedly increase the reach and concealment of such interference has raised concerns for governments around the world.

Threat of Foreign Interference

Who Is Really Causing Climate Change?

by Mark New
Source Link

Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.

If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz

How much climate change is natural? How much is man made?

As someone who has been working on climate change detection and its causes for over 20 years I was both surprised and not surprised that I was asked to write on this topic by The Conversation. For nearly all climate scientists, the case is proven that humans are the overwhelming cause of the long-term changes in the climate that we are observing. And that this case should be closed.

Despite this, climate denialists continue to receive prominence in some media which can lead people into thinking that man-made climate change is still in question. So it’s worth going back over the science to remind ourselves just how much has already been established.

Renowned Economist Nouriel Roubini Warns of 2020 Cyber War

BYRON MÜHLBERG

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Economist Nouriel Roubini, a professor at the New York University Stern School of Business and one of the world’s most prominent Keynesian economists, has predicted that 2020 could be the year the world bears witness to the first-ever cyber war.

Speaking on Yahoo Finance’s ‘On The Move’ on 28 February, Roubini told the debate panel that “[The U.S.] will have the first global cyber warfare this year,” explaining his belief that the coming cyber war will like play out between the United States and any one of its several major geopolitical rivals, either North Korea, Iran, China or Russia.

“We imposed sanctions against Russia, China, [North] Korea, and Iran,” Roubini explained, “and they cannot respond to us with conventional power, because we are stronger from a conventional point of view.”

“So if you are a weaker rival of the U.S., and you want to contain the U.S., what you do is asymmetric warfare. Asymmetric warfare means you try to weaken your enemy from the inside, and how you do it is with cyber warfare.”

A cyber war of many forms

Clausewitzian Deep Tracks: "Guide to Tactics, or the Theory of the Combat"

By Olivia Garard

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On War is not the only text Carl von Clausewitz wrote. An undercited and underread text is “Guide to Tactics, Or the Theory of the Combat.”[1] In English, it is found only in the Colonel John James Graham translation. Although it is located in the appendix of both the Hinterlassene Werke and Graham’s On War, its literal literary isolation hints at why it has been underexplored.[2] It has never been published in English as a standalone text.[3] It is mentioned in very few articles and books, and then only in passing. Hew Strachan’s Clausewitz’s On War: A Biography contends it was likely written between 1808 and 1812 while Clausewitz was working for Gerhard von Scharnhorst.[4] Paul Schuurman presents the only substantive engagement, which is limited to observations that “Guide to Tactics, Or the Theory of the Combat” contains Clausewitz’s thoughts on adversarial interaction, relationships between wholes and parts, and derives from the nature of military forces.[5] In Penser la guerre, Raymond Aron abstains from engaging with the text. He notes that at an epistemological and conceptual level “Guide to Tactics, Or the Theory of the Combat” is methodologically consistent with On War.[6] Beyond these references, it seems the greater community is unaware the work exists. This article seeks to change that.

“Guide to Tactics, Or the Theory of the Combat” is a better introduction to Clausewitz than On War. Of course, military professionals must understand that policy circumscribes the possibilities of military action, just as military means serve as an instrumental extension of politics. On War establishes the framework that fits the military into the larger geopolitical picture. It also defines war as “an act of violence intended to compel our opponent to fulfill our will.”[7] Such an understanding of Clausewitz will not change the day-to-day operational or bureaucratic realities of the profession, however, insights from “Guide to Tactics, Or the Theory of the Combat” might. The text is pragmatic and relevant, even as, or especially because, it remains theoretical.

“Guide to Tactics, Or the Theory of the Combat” is a better introduction to Clausewitz than On War.