On War – Carl von Clausewitz

Brief Description of the Book

On War is a foundational text on strategy, conflict, uncertainty, leadership, and decision-making under pressure. Though written in a military context, Clausewitz’s ideas extend far beyond warfare and are widely applied to public policy, internal security, crisis management, governance, diplomacy, and leadership. For OPSC, the book is best used metaphorically and analytically, not militaristically, to explain complex decision-making, state power, and policy execution under uncertainty.

The following extracts may be used in OPSC answer writing:

“War is merely the continuation of policy by other means.” → GS-2 (IR / Internal Security) / Essay: Link between politics and conflict, diplomacy–security continuum, state policy choices

“Everything in war is simple, but the simplest thing is difficult.” → GS-2 Governance / Essay: Policy implementation challenges, gap between design and execution

“In war, the result is never final.” → GS-2 / Essay: Long-term nature of conflicts, peace-building, policy sustainability

“No plan survives contact with the enemy.” (Idea widely attributed to Clausewitz) → GS-2 Governance / Disaster Management: Need for flexibility, adaptive administration, dynamic policymaking(Use as an idea, not as a strict quotation if cautious.)

“Friction is the only concept that more or less corresponds to the factors that distinguish real war from war on paper.” → GS-2 Governance / Essay: Bureaucratic delays, administrative hurdles, real-world constraints in governance

“Courage, above all, is the first quality of a warrior.” → GS-4 Ethics: Moral courage, leadership under pressure, crisis decision-making

“The great uncertainty of all data in war is a peculiar difficulty.”→ GS-2 / GS-4: Decision-making under incomplete information, policy uncertainty, risk management

“War is the realm of uncertainty; three quarters of the factors on which action is based are wrapped in a fog of uncertainty.”→ GS-2 / Essay: Fog of governance, intelligence limitations, need for cautious and informed decisions

“Boldness governed by superior intellect is the mark of a hero.” → GS-4 Ethics / Essay: Balanced leadership—courage combined with wisdom and restraint