What constitutes a military victory in light of the unsatisfactory outcomes of most recent Western campaigns has remained firmly within what is called here the Napoleonic-Clausewitzian Paradigm, which defines victory as “imposing one’s will upon the enemy.” Clausewitz’s On War deliberately excluded the consideration of what would translate a military victory into a lasting peace as did most authors writing in the century after its publication. Accordingly, the Prussian failed to tackle something universally accepted before the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars: that the only legitimate aim of war can be peace, and peace will only endure if it is perceived as reasonably just by all sides. The Trinity of victory, peace, and justice must no longer be neglected.

There is risk in daring. As asserted by Niccolò Machiavelli, “Never was anything great achieved without danger.” Every day, the men and women of our Armed Forces dare to be great. Every day, they take risks to achieve something bigger and more important than themselves. It is the risk they willingly take that makes our nation great.