Derek M Yuen aims to offering readers a fresh and comprehensive analysis of Dominicus Tzu'south celebrated treatise The Art of War. Gavin E Hall recommends the volume to those interested in strategic commentary.

Deciphering Dominicus Tzu: How to Read The Art of War. Derek M Yuen. Hurst. 2014.

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"As yin and yang are at in one case interconnected, interpenetrating, and interdependent in an uninterrupted manner, the polarity of the situation essentially rests in them (or the yin-yang continuum)." (p. 16)

Whenever an individual undergoes a new experience there is a point that is known as the light bulb moment. This occurs when the private moves from participating in an experience to understanding the experience. In other words, a richer and deeper interest is gained post-light seedling moment. It is likely that reading Deciphering Sun Tzu: How to Read the Art of State of war past Derek Yuen is very much a light seedling moment for commentators on Western strategic thought, as the quote at the start of this review highlights the secret of the Chinese dialectical system and why information technology is predisposed to strategic thinking.

For unfamiliar readers, Sunday Tzu was a Chinese military machine full general who lived in the era of 550 BC to 500 BC in what is referred to as the Spring and Autumn period (722 to 481 BC) and immediately prior to the Warring States Period (481BC to 403 BC). He was one of several strategic commentators of the fourth dimension, withal his military treatise The Art of State of war remains the most influential. Traditionally information technology is viewed in terms of the xiii Chapters, however, in that location is evidence that more chapters existed and today's publications include subsequent writings, letters and other musings. Chairman Mao credited The Art of War every bit beingness cardinal to his securing of power.

Yuen divides Deciphering Sun Tzu into vi chapters that can be further subdivided into three distinct arguments. Capacity ane to 3 focus on placing Sun Tzu inside its appropriate context; to gain a true understanding of Chinese strategic civilization we must as well understand "language, culture, history, and philosophy" (p.13). Chapters iv and 5 explore the traditional Western perspective for examining Sunday Tzu and argue that at that place is trivial distinctive deviation between The Fine art of War and Carl von Clausewitz'south On War. Affiliate 6 explores China'south strategic cultural paradigm to provide a critique of Western understandings of Chinese strategic thought. This review volition focus on each segment in turn.

On the surface, Deciphering Lord's day Tzu appears to be such a new piece of work that comparison and analysis is catchy. The strategic literature is well defined. Non since Martin van Creveld'due south On Futurity State of war has there been a serious attempt to interruption the stranglehold of the Clausewitzian Trinity on Western strategic thinking. However, the philosophical segment of the volume is arguably the virtually important.

The only manner to truly understand the intricacies and subtleties of The Art of State of war is to exist able to place the book within its proper context. Only with understanding Chinese strategic culture can the true value of The Art of War be fully grasped.

This is not a new statement, or indeed 1 distinct to Sun Tzu. The chances are that the reader will exist enlightened of some Clausewitzian maxims and may have read On State of war. Indeed, this is the problem, every bit the Howard & Paret version , which is dominant in the West, demonstrates a costless approach to translation and reinforces the dominant focus on war as a political instrument to suit our nowadays nuclear weapons-led globe. A change in the context of which a book is read and understood, and subtle changes in the language, can distinctly change the bulletin being received.

Chapters 4 and v focus on the notion that Clausewitz and Sun Tzu are non mutually incompatible but rather that a synthesis tin be used to enhance overall strategic agreement. Yuen is specially influenced past Basil Liddell Hart's The Strategy Indirect Approach, and John Boyd, who sadly never published his manuscripts only whose OODA (Observation, Orientation, Determination, Action) Loop is well known. Yuen focuses on these two authors as their ideas on warfare tin be viewed through a Sun Tzu lens without too much alteration or re-modelling. The same does not concord true of the wider strategic commentators in the West. Therefore, Lord's day Tzu and Clausewitz may have a degree of synthesis inside certain weather condition and situations; withal, the argument that they are non distinctly unlike cannot be said to be conclusive.

Does the Westward fully appreciate and understand the intricacies of Lord's day Tzu? Probably non. For case, Sir Lawrence Freedman denotes v pages out of 6 hundred out to Sun Tzu in Strategy: A History. Does this actually matter?

Yuen is clearly attempting to influence Western decision-makers to have a deeper, more than considerate, understanding of the Chinese position on a given range of issues. The basic premise is that China is an important global power and its ideas must be taken seriously as information technology transforms into a hegemonic position. The problem for the West is that if Chinese holistic approach to strategic civilisation is non understood along the lines Yuen highlights then it volition not realise it is even in a confrontation, or how to compete, until the outcome has already been decided.

Deciphering Dominicus Tzu is primarily geared to the experienced strategic commentator as noesis is needed to grasp some of the subtleties of the argument put forrard. Withal, an inexperienced reader on the subject would still exist able to gain the importance of understanding different civilization and perspectives in which something is written, only they may lack the depth of knowledge specifically targeted in the book.

If you are notwithstanding curious about whether to pick upwards and read this book, then the words of Sun Tzu himself should aid you to decide:

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, yous need not fright the outcome of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will besides endure a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, yous will succumb in every battle."

As an aside, for anyone that wants the best translations (nearly authentic) of On War and The Fine art of State of war together in i book then you should purchase The Book of War.

Gavin E Fifty Hall  is a Doctoral Researcher in the Department of Political Science & International Studies at the Academy of Birmingham. He maintains an interest in hereafter technology and warfare aslope broader international security questions. His chief focus of research is the role of NATO in the provision of cyber-security. Previously Gavin obtained an MA in Terrorism, International Offense & Global Security from Coventry University and a BA in War Studies from King's College, London. You can follow him on twitter@GavinELHall. Read more than reviews past Gavin.

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