As the famous Prussian general once warned, the !rst priority is to ascertain what type of con"ict is to be fought. Carl von Clausewitz’s seminal writings laid the foundation 
of thinking for modern warfare de!ned around the needs of the nascent Westphalian nation-state. His prioritization, his “wonderful trinity,” and his recognition that war is but “politics by other means” have served both strategist and statesman well during the conventional wars of the post-Napoleonic age.