Re: Brecht on Strategy

Regarding Brecht on Strategy, it is significant where you took that quotation from. In fact, it has nothing to do with Brecht's own thought on strategy or warfare, but it's rather connected to an Oriental concept of it. That is why you found it in his ballad “The Legend of the Origin of the Book Taoteking”.

 

In fact, the notion of a constant, everflowing movement to win over the opponent can be found in the earliest doctrines of martial arts throughout the Far East - aikido is one of the most significant -, especially China and Japan. On a more advanced level, and related directly to the theory of war and strategy, you should check out Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" - a fantastic book. Especially if you consider how long ago it has been written.

 

Although Keegan doesn't give him much credit for it, the work of Sun Tzu and other Oriental theorists of the same orientation have influeneced, to a great extent, Western military doctrine and strategic thought. So much so that one of the most promeninet Western strategists of the 20th century, Liddell Hart, borrows heavily from it.

 

As for the similarities between this notion of overwhelming, constant action to overcome opposition (instead of a single, decisive but isolated action) and Marxist Theory, I beleive that it is much more evident in the writings of Mao than those of Lenin. Mao's writings at the time of his struggle to gain control of China, both against Chiang Kai-shek and the Japanese are a good example of this link. He integrates this strategic vision within his corpus of theory for a Marxist victory in that country (and, presumably, anywhere else it was adopted, taken the specific regional settings). This kind of theorizing had also a great impact on the doctrines of insurgency wars in all of South East Asia (think of how the Vietnmanese acted throughout the War with the US), and later was exported to Latin America.

 

Just a few thoughts. Hope they can be of some use, and that you'll send some feedback on this issue.

 

 

Daniel Pinéu
danielfrp@hotmail.com

 

undergrad Pol Sci & International Relations
Universidade Nova de Lisboa