Bad advice from the past
History teaches us that wars are rarely decided by individual battles, but rather by long-term, complex processes in which political, economic, and moral factors are just as decisive as military ones. However, the West continues to be strongly influenced by the dogma of the decisive battle, which dates back to the Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz. In contrast, Russia tends to follow the principle of strategic patience and war of attrition. These different ways of thinking are leading to mutual misunderstandings and misjudgments in the current conflict in Ukraine.
Ralph Bosshard
Fri 31 Oct 2025