Decoding the Art of War
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
Episode 13 The use of Spies
08 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sun Tzu’s war theories are built on information and espionage. He believed a spy-master had to be very smart indeed, to sniff out the truth from mis...
Episode 12 Attack by Fire
01 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sun Tzu clearly preferred fire to water in military tactics, and he developed quite a comprehensive theory on the use of fire. But if read between the...
Episode 11 Know Thyself
25 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sun Tzu studied the state of mind of soldiers. He noticed that they tend to grow stronger in solidarity as they venture deeper into enemy territory. W...
Episode 10 Watch the Enemy
18 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sun Tzu in his science of war also relied on observation to read the enemy’s movement, the meticulous and exhaustive approach with which he tried to...
Episode 09 The Issue of Choice
11 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For a military commander, there are roads he doesn’t have to take; there are enemies he doesn’t have to fight; there are cities he doesn’t have ...
Episode 08 The Initiative of War
04 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A commander must choose the battleground to his advantage and led his forces to the right spot before the enemy shows up. Good communication is requ...
Episode 07 The Xu and Shi
28 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A commander must shape his army like water. Water shuns the high rocks and flows in the shallow valleys. Like water, a commander must direct his army ...
Episode 06 The Ji and Zheng
21 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In Chinese, zheng refers to something that is fundamental; while ji means something odd or extraordinary. Sun Tzu believed that to be successful in wa...
Episode 05 The Strategies of War
14 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The best approach is to go after the opponent’s strategy and defuse their initiative to fight; the second-best course of action is to work for a dip...
Episode 04 The Accounting of War
07 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sun Tzu examined the social and economic cost of war, and the law of supply and demand. Wars are costly, and costlier still if they are prolonged, so ...
Episode 03 The Assessment of War
30 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In Sun Tzu’s opinion, the outcome of a war can be decided before it actually begins. In the first chapter of The Art of War, he listed several cruci...
Episode 02 The Life of Sun Tzu
23 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sun Tzu lived at a time when states practically had no borders, but nonetheless borders were quickly forming and causing military conflicts. Full-blow...
Episode 01 The Science of War
16 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
"The Art of War" probably isn't the most accurate title to represent Sun Tzu's military thinking.