Old Carl, if you’ve been around strategy for any amount of time someone has invoked the spirt of Carl Von Clausewitz. Probably they quoted something like:

Courage above all things, is the first quality of a warrior

Or, my favorite:

Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult

Perhaps you’ve heard it in a song by a band who people of a certain age used to listen too.

To secure peace is to prepare for war.

Some people will say that his theories are no longer relevant or applicable to modern warfare. I would disagree. Old Carl is applicable when you really consider all factors of total war. If you dear reader, contemplate that in the grand scheme of things, war doesn’t have to be kinetic. War can use economics, information, and political levers as well.

I feel like this isn’t only related to nation states, but could be incorporated to an individual’s struggle.

You or I may not be going to war against the Prussians, but you might be facing a battle of your own. Perhaps taking it head on isn’t the best stratagem. If you have the time perhaps developing the situation, shaping it. Perhaps using soft power is the answer.

Just a thought.