The Strategist

Dean on schnapps, Machiavelli, and the internet age

Here's the second of my "conversations with readers". Dean, aka "Belphagor1527", blogs at Travels with Shiloh...

"Dean, could you tell us a bit about yourself?'

"I was born, raised and reside in the Northeastern US, but have lived and travelled elsewhere, primarily in Europe.

Favourite drinks are wheat beers, almost any wines and Swedish schnapps. I've been working on becoming a vegetarian for about a dozen years, falling off the wagon only for Thanksgiving (cultural reasons) and seafood (because everyone keeps telling me fish aren't really animals).

Much to my wife's relief I don't follow sports except for becoming an inexplicable junkie every two years during the Olympics."

"Right, now for the hard question. What was history's greatest army and why?"

"The Romans. The first professional army, capable of operating in widely differing terrain against all sorts of foes, and making even mediocre generals look good.

Even when things went south, the army was able to adapt well to the hand they were dealt (I'm particularly thinking of the army in the late Republic and early Principate). The Roman army is the standard by which all other armies, at least until the modern era, are judged."

YT on Indonesian cigarettes and the world's greatest army

During the three years that I've been writing The Strategist, I've got to know some smart people. Guys who read and comment on the posts, and challenge, expand and sometimes change my thinking. I decided to interview some of these "regulars".

First up is YT, who is a prolific commentator on everything from Hannibal and his elephants to the merits of ancient Chinese strategists...

"YT, tell us something about yourself, e.g., where do you live, favourite drink, sport you follow?"

"Born in Singapore, living in Malaysia.

Any strong beverage is ideal. I'm cutting down on cigarettes. I used to smoke an evil, yet seductive, brand of kretek (clove) cigarettes from Indonesia called Sampoerna.

I hardly play or watch any sports (unhealthy I know), but I'm starting a real regimen soon as I intend to look good in order to get laid.

I'm currently teaching English on a freelance basis but I'll be starting my own business(es) soon with help from friends."

Book review - "The Art of Peace"

After writing several posts about "The Art of War", I thought it was about time to read a book called The Art of Peace. This is John Patterson's translation of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, published by Steele Roberts who kindly sent me a review copy.

The Tao Te Ching is the principal classic of Taoist philosophy. It has had an immense influence on Chinese thought since it was written around the 5th century BC, during the turbulent Warring States period of China's history. The Tao Te Ching suggests how men and women can live in accordance with the Tao ("the Way", that which animates the universe) and in doing so survive, and perhaps even prosper, in times of hardship and peril.

There are many English translations of the Tao Te Ching. Some translators try to render the words and meaning of the original text as faithfully as possible. Others seek to interpret the work in a personal or modern way.

A retired philosophy professor, John Patterson focuses on what he describes as the "self-improvement" aspect of the Tao Te Ching, ideas that can help us grow spiritually, get along with each other, and lead good lives. His translation emphasizes the uplifting elements of the Tao Te Ching, while downplaying those parts that are morally ambiguous or that seem calculating and amoral.

For example, writing about statecraft, Patterson says that "Goodness in government is straightforwardness". Another translator, D C Lau renders this sentence as "In government it is order that matters"*.

Patterson's interpretation didn't gel with me, mainly because I tend towards Lau's take on the Tao Te Ching, that it is "a rather down-to-earth philosophy aimed at the mundane purpose of personal survival and political order". Patterson seems to miss what is a crucial idea in the Tao Te Ching - that we thrive when we align ourselves with the Tao, when we go with the cosmic flow rather than struggle against obstacles and fate.

Patterson writes clearly and in plain English. As a result, The Art of Peace is easy and pleasant to read. Some passages don't work, even as suggestions for self-improvement. "Contrive to be easygoing," Patterson writes, "work at not working". I wouldn't advise anybody to take this approach, especially during hard economic times. Work at not working and you could be fired from your job.

But other passages are well-crafted and thoughtful. "Others turn to us and we do not lord it over them" - a useful reminder that good leaders have the confidence to be gracious and humble. And politicians and government officials would do well to reflect on the idea that the essence of good government is straightforwardness.  

* Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching (Penguin, 1963).

March of the Miniskirts Brigade

Check out this video of the 60th anniversary of the glorious founding of the People's Republic of China (h/t Travels with Shiloh).

You'll be impressed with the precision marching...

What I'm reading at the moment - Heathcliff, Lao-tzu and Caesar

At school I somehow managed to escape the Brontë sisters. Instead we endured studied Thomas Hardy. Now, older, wiser, and with silver hairs starting to show, it's time to read Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. And do you remember this? Kate Bush's creepy song from 1978:

"Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy, come home, I'm so cold..."

Or check out this version of "Wuthering Heights" by the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain (h/t Nemo).

I've already written about John Minford's translation of Sun-tzu's The Art of War. Oddly enough, I'm also reading John Patterson's interpretation of Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching, which Patterson calls The Art of Peace. I like this line, "Goodness in government is straightforwardness". In my experience of government, this is a foreign concept to most politicians and officials. 

Montaigne believed that Julius Caesar "ought to be the breviary of every fighting-man". Swiftness, and seeking the advice of experienced subordinates are two lessons I learned from Caesar's The Gallic War and The Civil War. After reading In the Name of Rome, an excellent history of Rome's top generals, I was keen to read another book by Adrian Goldsworthy. His biography of Caesar seems to fit the bill.

Sun-tzu, "deluxe edition" - bring it on!

Today I added to my collection of books entitled "The Art of War" by buying Penguin's 2003 edition of John Minford's translation of Sun-tzu.

Some will think that I've gone soft ... in particular I'm thinking about one reader who described Master Sun as "an over-rated hack". But that's OK. I love Sun-tzu. So does a guy I met in the lift at work today. And this is the "Deluxe Edition". Nice.

I've already explained why I believe Minford's translation is the one to read: "It is superb. It is crisp. It is poetic". Now for the steak knives bit - the Deluxe Edition has an excellent introductory essay, which situates Sun-tzu's work in its context of history, ideas and legacy. It presents the text in two formats: by itself, and accompanied by commentary from Chinese and European commentators. It has useful extras like a chronology, biographical notes on commentators, and suggestions for further reading.

I'm taking a sabbatical from work over the next couple of months. One of the things I'm going to do is get deep into reading traditional Chinese philosophical, literary and military classics. After reading this edition of Sun-tzu, and finishing a recent translation of the Tao Te Ching, I'm planning to read The Book of Changes (I-Ching) and The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I'd welcome other suggestions.

"Strike with chaos" - who's the best translator of Sun-tzu?

So, you haven't read Sun-tzu's The Art of War, but you'd like to. Trouble is, which translation?

I've got two translations of this ancient Chinese classic on warfare and strategy. One is by Thomas Cleary, published by Shambhala in 1988. The other is by John Minford, published by Penguin in 2003.

Cleary's translation is a dog. It is long-winded. It is dull. Avoid it.

Minford's translation is superb. It is crisp. It is poetic. Buy it - either the 2003 edition, or the Penguin Great Ideas version which is small, slim and easy to carry around. If you're a soldier, tuck it into a trouser leg pocket. If you're a suit, carry it inside your jacket.

Payoff? Next time you have to endure a business presentation or a brainstorming session, sit at the back of the room, ignore the powerpoint rangers and facilitators, pull out Minford's Sun-tzu and read him instead.

Here's how Cleary translates a passage in the first part of The Art of War: 

Draw them in with the prospect of gain,
Take them by confusion.

And this is how Minford renders the same passage:

Lure with bait
Strike with chaos.

"Strike with chaos". When I read this, I think of Caesar striking south from the Rubicon with the XIII Legion, driving Pompey to Greece, Pharsalus and destruction. Of the Mongols scything through Russia and Europe from 1238 to 1241. And of Jason Bourne, striking fear into the dark hearts of renegade CIA operatives in "The Bourne Ultimatum".

I won't labour the point. Minford's translation sings. It makes the study of war and strategy come alive. Cleary makes me yawn.

A tale of three versions of "The Art of War"

I have three books titled The Art of War.

The first is The Art of War by Sun-tzu. It is an ancient Chinese text on warfare and strategy. I've read it many times.

The second is Notes on The Art of War, by Elsdon Best, a 19th century New Zealand ethnographer. It is a study, based on frontier fieldwork, of the "war customs, practices and ceremonies of the Maori". I've yet to read it, but it has this spine-tingling warrior's vow on the back cover:

"Let us not linger on and die of old age, rather let us die like the shark, fighting to the last."

The third is The Art of War by Niccolò Machiavelli. This is Machiavelli's study of the nature of warfare and military organization in Renaissance Europe, and the relationship between these and the state. I'm currently reading it.

Machiavelli's The Art of War takes the form of a dialogue between a group of Florentine intellectuals and Fabrizio Colonna, an Italian mercenary captain. In the dialogue, Colonna serves as a mouthpiece for expounding Machiavelli's views on warfare.

I'm part way through Book 2. At this stage in The Art of War, Machiavelli has emphasized the superiority of citizen militias over professional soldiers. When properly armed, trained and led, a militia will hold its own against professional and mercenary troops. It also has important civic virtues. In a state, a militia of armed citizens is a bulwark against tyranny. It is an effective way of instilling patriotism and discipline among subjects and citizens.

Another interesting aspect is how Machiavelli argues that the practice of the art of war in Europe has degenerated since ancient times. He considers that Roman republican military practice is the standard to which Renaissance rulers and commanders must aspire.

What can Chuang Tzu tell us about leading people?

Taoist philosopher Chuang Tzu had this subtle insight into human nature ...

"When someone tries to correct others, his own Virtue is clouded over, and his Virtue will no longer reach all others. Trying to do so will destroy everyone's innate nature."

There's an interesting idea here about leadership. A leader has to understand, as far as possible, the natures of the people that she or he leads. "What makes them tick", in other words.

But leaders often try to change people, to "correct" their "innate natures", to get them to do things the way they like. Heaven knows, I've tried to correct people myself at times.

To me the role of a leader is to create or shape situations where people succeed through their own initiative and effort. For real and enduring success you need to work with a individual's innate nature, not against it. You shape outcomes from the dynamic of the people you work with.

This gels with the Taoist concept of riding the flow of life rather than struggling against it. "I go in with the currents and come out with the flow," the swimmer says to Confucius, "just going with the Tao of the water and never being concerned".

* Quotes from The Book of Chuang Tzu, ed. Martin Palmer (Penguin 2006).