A Clausewitzian Lens on Modern Urban Warfare

Summary

Among Carl von Clausewitz’s many poignant dictums, the most commonly cited is undoubtedly that “war is not merely an act of policy but a true political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse, carried on by other means.” While Clausewitz never fought in a city like Fallujah, Kyiv, or Gaza if the Prussian general and philosopher of war could visit the battlefields of the twenty-first century, he would recognize modern urban warfare’s core challenges—and would find that his theories about war’s objective and the considerations needed for victory remain strikingly relevant. Clausewitz wrote that “war is more than a true chameleon that slightly adapts its characteristics to the given case.” Its essential elements—violence, chance and probability, and subordination to policy—form what he famously described as a wunderliche Dreifaltigkeit, or “remarkable trinity.” Rather than being in conflict, these elements interact dynamically and, in successful systems like that of Napoleonic France, can operate in harmony. Clausewitz and his fellow Prussian reformers admired how the French system aligned popular will, military force, and political direction. Nowhere is the need for such harmony more acute than in modern urban warfare, where civilians, combatants, and national objectives share the same congested terrain. This environment tests the limits of military doctrine, challenges the notion of strategic clarity, and often leaves combatants with ambiguous definitions of victory. In my work on urban warfare, from my book Understanding Urban Warfare to the numerous case studies I have authored and the field research I have conducted, I’ve seen the truths Clausewitz described play out on concrete streets and in bombed-out buildings. Urban warfare has become the norm, not the exception, and Clausewitz’s insights are not relics of Napoleonic Europe—they are essential tools for understanding the future of conflict. Historical Context: Urban Warfare in Clausewitz’s Era Whil...