Six strategy lessons from Clausewitz and Sun Tzu

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1460
• Date: 01 August 2013
• Published date: 01 August 2013
• Author: Matthijs Pars

■Practitioner Paper

Six strategy lessons from Clausewitz

and Sun Tzu

Matthijs Pars*

Meines & Partners, Den Haag, Netherlands

A good strategy is crucial for a successful lobby or public affairs campaign. In this article, six strategy lessons from

Clausewitz and Sun Tzu’s classical works on military strategy are discussed, which could be useful for lobbyists

and public affairs managers. Although waging war and lobbying are totally different things, there are also many

similarities: both deal with aims to be achieved, opponents, threats and opportunities, (political) victories, and defeats.

Therefore, military strategic thinking might provide the field of public affairs with some good and practical insights.

First of all, Sun Tzu and Clausewitz stress the importance of meticulous exploration before the action starts.

Subsequently, when laying strategy plans, one should beware of Pyrrhic victories and ‘the fallacies of hope’.

Clausewitz, in particular, warns us to expect the unexpected and not to be surprised by the friction between even

the best plans and their realization. A good way to handle this friction is to lay down the why and the what of coming

actions but not how these actions should be carried out. Both thinkers also provide guidance in how to effectively

deal with opponents; surprise an opponent to achieve the upper hand, and bring yourself in a position which will

enable a decisive step forward; divide opponents whilst making yourself as strong as possible; and finally prevent

a hard-edged confrontation by offering an alternative. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

INTRODUCTION

A good strategy is crucial for a lobby or public affairs

campaign to be successful. Otherwise, unobtainable

objectives would be pursued, the wrong politicians

approached, and detrimental coalitions forged. The

same counts for war: the chances of defeat are

extremely high without a good strategy. History

gives us many examples of this.

In this article I will explore what lobbyists and

public affairs managers might learn from two classi-

cal works on military strategy, Sun Tzu’sThe Art of

War and Clausewitz’sOn War.These works are what

Germans call a Fundgrube, a treasure trove, of strate-

gic thought. Most contemporary strategic thinking

still refers back to these classic works.

Needless to say, waging war and lobbying are

very different things, with different rules of the

game. A brilliant trick might be appraised by friend

and foe on the battlefield but for a lobbyist be

beyond the pale and lead to a lifelong reputation

as a dangerous Machiavellian. But in other ways,

war and lobbying are very similar activities. Both

deal with aims to be achieved, opponents, threats

and opportunities, victories, and defeats.

More specifically, in this article, I will discuss six

lessons from the two mentioned works. The choice

of these lessons is more random than systematic,

not exhaustive, and also based on my own experi-

ence in the field of public affairs. I hope they will

be of practical use.

SUN TZU

Sun Tzu lived in China around 500 BC in the time

of Confucius. The Art of War is the oldest known

treatise on military strategy and seems to be the

very first attempt to write about the planning

and execution of military operations on a rational

basis. It is a wonderfully clear and compact book,

the distillate of experience and knowledge built

up over many years.

Mao Zedong based much of the strategy of his

Red Army on Sun Tzu’sThe Art of War ().

It is an obligatory reading for the US Marine

Corps, and sales hugely increased after Tony

Soprano started quoting from the book in television

series The Sopranos.

*Correspondence to: Matthijs Pars, Consultant at Meines &

Partners, Lobbying, Public Affairs and Strategic Communication,

The Hague, Netherlands.

E-mail: matthijspars@meinespartners.nl

Journal of Public Affairs

Volume 13 Number 3 pp 329–334 (2013)

Published online 06 May 2013 in Wiley Online Library

(www.wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/pa.1460

Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.