ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates the wondrous trinity and argues why it must be regarded as Carl von Clausewitz's valuable legacy. It considers the wondrous trinity as a key thesis running through Clausewitz's often contradictory definitions, terms, and formulas, and aims to develop from this a general approach on violent conflicts taking place in the twenty-first century. The chapter comprehends the "wondrous trinity" and its main concept of the floating balance as a methodological starting point whose implications may extend beyond Clausewitz's own work but without contradicting its basic implications. The importance of the wondrous trinity as Clausewitz's actual testament was hidden for a long time due to the incompleteness of his work and his intention a few years before his death to rewrite the entire work. An even broader interpretation of Clausewitz's idea of politics is evident in Antulio Echevarria's argument that "Clausewitz used Politik as a historically causative force, providing an explanatory pattern or framework viewing war's various manifestations over time".
