Rebooting Clausewitz offers an entirely new take on the work of history's greatest theorist of war. Written for an undergraduate readership that often struggles with Clausewitz's master work On War--a book that is often considered too philosophical and impenetrably dense--it seeks to unpack some of Clausewitz's key insights on theory and strategy. In three fictional interludes Clausewitz attends a seminar at West Point; debates the War on Terror at a Washington think tank; and visits a Robotics Institute in Santa Fe where he discusses how scientists are reshaping the future of war. Three separate essays situate Clausewitz in the context of his times, discuss his understanding of the culture of war, and the extent to which two other giants--Thucydides and Sun Tzu--complement his work.
Some years ago the philosopher W.B. Gallie argued that Clausewitz needed to be 'saved from the Clausewitzians'. Clausewitz doesn't need saving and his commentators have contributed a great deal to our understanding of On War's seminal status as a text. But too often they tend to conduct a conversation between themselves. This book is an attempt to let a wider audience into the conversation.

Christopher Coker is Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics. He is author of, among others, Warrior Geeks: How 21st Century Technology is Changing the Way We Fight and Think About War, and The Improbable War: China, the United States and the Logic of Great Power Conflict.

CONTENTS
Prologue - Why This Book?
Chapter 1: Clausewitz and his times
Chapter 2: Clausewitz at West Point: the Importance of Theory
Chapter 3: What if Clausewitz had read Darwin?
Chapter 4: An Evening discussion at the Center for the American Century after Next: Clausewitz and the Importance of Strategy
Chapter 5: On Military History: Clausewitz at the Military history Circle, London
Chapter 6: If not Clausewitz then who?