Studying the nature of war: Russian and European perspectives

Studying the nature of war: Russian and European perspectives


Konyshev V.N.,

Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia, konyshev06@mail.ru


elibrary_id: 202300 | ORCID: 0000-0002-7257-6848 | RESEARCHER_ID: H-5469-2013

Article received: 18.04.2022. Accepted: 20.06.2022
DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2022.06.13

For citation:

Konyshev V.N. Studying the nature of war: Russian and European perspectives. – Polis. Political Studies. 2022. No. 6. P. 182-188. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2022.06.13



Abstract

The collective monograph "Military sciences versus the science of war" edited by V.K. Belozerov and A. Dubowy presents the results of a discussion of experts from Russia, Austria and Germany focused on the methodological problems of war studies. The discussions brought together specialists with profound research, educational, and military experience who contributed to a interdisciplinary dialogue between representatives of two schools of modern military thought. The authors of the monograph strive to discover a set of methodological principles that would give a holistic/systemic vision of war based on an understanding of the deep relations between its military, political, economic, and social aspects. The evolution of different sciences that study war at various levels and dimensions has objectively approached a new stage of research associated with the integration of knowledge about war on an interdisciplinary basis. An integrated science of war should also help to create a model of governance that harmoniously combines the civil and military spheres. In the field of military education, this implies the expansion of the military horizons of the officer corps through academic knowledge. Both Russian and Austro-German strategic traditions have close scientific and philosophical roots, dating back to the teachings of K. Clausewitz. At the same time, the originality of Russian political thought manifests itself in the fact that it anticipated many features of modern wars. The authors from Russia and Austria emphasize that Clausewitz's critics underestimate the differences between the essence and phenomenon of war. As result they make a false conclusion about the obsolescence of his theory. The monograph offers various options for a systematic study of war, taking into account the social nature of war, whether it is “military political science”, “polemology”, or another discipline.

Keywords
nature of war, methodology, political science, strategic culture, Austria, Russia, Germany.


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Content No. 6, 2022

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