Sun Tzus Art of and its applicability nowadays The Art of War remains one of the best strategy

manuals written so far, even if the political climate has changes substantially since the time it was written. Thus, even if now most nations have settled down territorially and wars between countries are no longer conceivable in their classic meaning, one cannot help noticing that many of the teachings included in this short volume are still applicable, both in the case of diplomatic conflicts and in the case of guerilla war, the most common form seen today. More than these, the author shows to have had a very fine understanding of human psychology, as well as of the psychology of the masses. As a result, uite a few of these teaching can also be used in the case of corporations, which compete with each other for resources or customers. Sun Tzu and modern warfare As stated above, modern warfare no longer refers to struggles between armies which follow certain rules, many times representing an entire country. !ow, most conflicts are not proportionate concerning the power of the combatants and rarely follow rules. "owever, even if today wars are waged less for con uering territories and more for accessing resources or gaining certain rights, the strategies proposed by Sun Tzu are still applicable to uite some e#tent. $ne good e#ample is this uote% &'(. All warfare is based on deception. '). "ence, when able to attac*, we must seem unable+ when using our forces, we must seem inactive+ when we are near, we must ma*e the enemy believe we are far away+ when far away, we must ma*e him believe we are near., This lesson was used in war since the oldest of times and still is used. !ot long ago, even if it was not a hot war, the -SS. spread rumors about having went very far with their nuclear research in order to scare the western world and thus control the situation more. /n the end, when they actually did obtain the weapons, the mind frame had already been created and the -SS. was feared. Another e#ample is &attac* him when he is unprepared, appear where you are not e#pected,. /n this case, this rule can be seen applied in all the news broadcasts referring to disproportionate conflict, this being a strategy preferred by numerically0inferior groups of rebels.

As about &there is no instance of a country having benefitted from prolonged warfare,, this may be true, but in modern warfare, there are mercenary and terrorist groups that feed these conflicts as they thrive only in such environments. So this would be one of the first changes to be noticed, the situation mostly applying to Africa and the Middle 1ast. A very interesting chapter is &The use of spies,, which shows 2ust how old the art of spying on the enemy has been and about how comple# it was, even a few thousand years ago. Thus, spies are classified in detail and considered crucial for an army, due to the ability to offer leaders fore*nowledge. Thus, Sun Tzu writes about local spies, inward spies, converted spies, doomed spies and surviving spies. All these categories, starting from helpful locals until some members of the enemys army, show a large finesse of this activity, even counter0espionage being used. /n todays era of conflicts, one can hardly act efficiently without having *nowledge about the other side, especially as now we dont have standoffs between two armies. Such rules, li*e &'(. 3e subtle4 3e Subtle4 And use your spies for every *ind of business, can also be used in the case of companies as well, corporate espionage still e#isting, even if it is illegal in most countries. 5sychological elements in The Art of War Sun Tzu ac*nowledges the fact that soldiers are the most important resource on has during the war and their state of mind is absolutely crucial for winning or losing. 6nowing the status uo of the time, Sun Tzu has a remar*ably comprehensive view regarding the topic, as he does not consider soldiers to be simple, disposable elements. As a result, he warns leaders on the manner in which to handle them, the advice still being highly applicable today in the case of armies 7in their new shape8, as well as in other conte#ts, such as companies or other institutions of the state. $ne such e#ample refers to understanding the conditions of life in the army before starting to order. $therwise, the leader will create a distance between himself and the army and may start off on the wrong foot &by attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a

*ingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain an army. This causes restlessness in the soldiers minds,. Sun Tzu advises against forcing armies to go on long marches and suffer more than necessarily for the sa*e of obtaining more results. Tiring the soldiers too much can cause rebellion or lac* of reaction, which can lead to a disaster. The same can be said about companies that add too much overtime wor* and demand too much. /n the end, they will lose their employees or will obtain less efficient ones due to the effort. Sun Tzu also ma*es a few valid points on the best moment to start an attac*. Thus, ones soldiers are most li*ely to respond better in the morning, while the enemies are to be attac*ed when their morals are down or when they plan on returning to the camp. Also, Sun Tzu recommends leaders to never start handling an army by administering punishments form the start, as this is a simple way to lose ones people. At first, one should use rewards for the best men in order to attract others as well and to establish their devotion. Then, when already devoted, one can start using punishments as well, which will be ta*en as such. /t was particularly interesting to notice that Sun Tzu stated what recent studies have 2ust confirmed 9 soldiers truly e#perience another state when they are on the battle field and thus react in a way that is not characteristic for their daily life 9 uality which is to be e#plored by military leaders% & soldiers when in desperate straits lose the sense of fear. /f there is no place of refuge, they will stand firm. /f they are in hostile country, they will show a stubborn front. /f there is no help for it, they will fight hard,. :ast, Sun Tzu advises against omens and superstitions+ nevertheless, many small groups today use religions means and beliefs to gather more adherents, which are usually very devoted and resort to e#treme actions. !evertheless, in the case of a classic confrontation, this statement would be appropriate.