Clausewitz was right, Gaza proves it: War without politics serves nothing

Under the Gaza Strip, a territory of just 365 square kilometers, lies a tunnel network stretching 350 to 500 kilometers, buried 10 to 40 meters deep. At 1.37 kilometers of tunnel per square kilometer of surface, it is denser than most city subway systems. Entry points are hidden inside homes, mosques, schools and hospitals. This underground fortress is the physical face of asymmetric war, a conflict where the weaker side does not need to win. It only needs to survive.

Two centuries ago, the Prussian military thinker Carl von Clausewitz wrote that war is the continuation of politics by other means. War is never an end in itself. It is always a tool to achieve a political goal. If it fails to serve that purpose, then all its destruction amounts to nothing. For two hundred years, generals and statesmen have debated this idea. Gaza now proves Clausewitz was right, and proves it in the harshest way possible.

In conventional war between equally matched armies, the link between military victory and political outcome is straightforward. One side wins on the battlefield, and that victory becomes leverage at the negotiating table. But in an asymmetric war like Gaza, Clausewitz’s truth becomes a blade that cuts both ways. This is what we call the Clausewitz Dilemma.