Lessons on Government from one Non-State Entity to Another

Abstract

The great nineteenth-century military theorist Carl von Clausewitz changed the art of war forever with his masterwork, “On War.” This text illuminated one of Clausewitz’s greatest contributions to military thought: the Trinity of war. Clausewitz argued that a successful military campaign requires the balanced cooperation of three important levels of society: the political wing (the government), the military wing (the army), and the popular wing (the citizenry). In modern warfare, Clausewitz’s Trinity still remains an important lesson, especially for non-state actors. By examining the Irish Republican Army and Hezbollah, we can better understand how non-state actors balance the three branches of the Trinity and achieve their sociopolitical objectives.