Reimagining war in the 21st century : from Clausewitz to network-centric warfare / Manabrata Guha.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [212]-228) and index.

Approaching the problematic of war -- A failure of imagination: NCW's Limit-Condition -- An outline of the book -- 1. Prelude to Clausewitz -- A historico-philosophical background -- Classical military theory an evolutionary overview -- A kehr to the non-human -- Mind(ing) the gap: Between Guibert and Jomini -- Jomini's science of the "Art of War" -- A preliminary assessment -- 2. Clausewitz and the Architectonic of war -- The romance of Clausewitz -- Clausewitz, methodologizing -- Clausewitz, theorizing -- Clausewitz, strategizing -- (de)Constructing war, absolute and real -- The Clausewitzian mesh and the net, architectonically speaking -- In Fortuna's camp -- The face of chance -- Strategizing chance -- Clausewitz: Q.E.D. -- 3. Machining (network-centric) war -- Behind the network paradise -- NCW: A preliminary overview -- Semantic implications of NCW -- The technologization of discourse in the context of NCW -- At the edge of chaos... -- On networks -- On netwars -- Machinic war -- 4. Theorizing war in the Age of Networks -- A new strategic commons: wide-angle view of NCW -- Two orders of strategy -- The first order -- The second order -- NCW: and here is the "beef"... -- Inside/outside the Clausewitzian legacy -- 5. Concept-war -- In an "Other" theater of war -- On war and war-machines: Interrogating the Deleuze-Guattarian thesis -- Five propositions concerning concept-war: A speculative exercise -- Concept-war: A minoritarian tactic -- Conclusion.

This book interrogates the philosophical backdrop of Clausewitzian notions of war, and asks whether modern, network-centric militaries can still be said to serve the 'political'. In light of the emerging theories and doctrines of Network-Centric War (NCW), this book traces the philosophical backdrop against which the more common theorizations of war and its conduct take place. Tracing the historical and philosophical roots of modern war from the 17th Century through to the present day, this book reveals that far from paralyzing the project of re-problematisating war, the emergence of NCW affords us an opportunity to rethink war in new and philosophically challenging ways.