ABSTRACT
This work is a study in strategic thought. Its objective is to demonstrate how the analyses and arguments of Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) have been adapted to the development of American strategic thinking since the Vietnam War. It examines the making of strategy and the conduct of operations during the period concerned, and sets this against the background of Clausewitz’s theory of war and traditional US strategic thought. Though written almost a century ago, Clausewitz’s impact on strategic thought was well summarised by General Jacob Meckel of the Imperial German Army: “Everyone who nowadays either makes or teaches war in a modern sense, bases himself upon Clausewitz, even if he is not conscious of it.”1
