Blog #3

Over the course of the week I began to read The Art of War by Sun Tzu. I decided to research about Sun Tzu prior to actually reading his work. The Art of War is believed to have been written about 2000 years ago by a man by the name of Sun Tzu in ancient China.  He was an ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher from the Zhou Dynasty. Despite the fact that historians are still arguing about the origins and legitimacy of Sun Tzu, it still impacts both Asian and Western culture and policies. Even after his death many generals still implemented his ideas into battle. What I found most interesting is that a text that is written thousands of years ago can still be applied to modern life. I was surprised to learn about some of the applications.

The Art of War has become very popular across the globe. You would think that a book written thousands of years ago would be outdated but in the 1980s a law was enacted that made it so that no officer can become a general or admiral without graduating from one of the nation's war colleges, where ''The Art of War'' is a mainstay of the curriculum. The ideas created by Sun Tzu are till this day being implemented by the military. Sun Tzu was thinking way ahead of his time. Even in one of our most recent wars the US implemented this ancient Chinese philosophy.

In the words of Sun Tzu. ''Now an army may be likened to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and strikes weakness... And as water has no constant form, there are in war no constant conditions.'' Flexibility is a key aspect in war. Being able to adapt to any situation can gain you almost any victory. This was especially important when US soldiers had to fight against Iraqi irregulars and improvised explosives.  

While Sun Tzu had to use secret agents to gain crucial information, the US military developed high tech sensors. General William F. Kernan told Congress that the ability to ''gather, analyze, and share critical information electronically allows us to fulfill Sun Tzu's dream of a common picture of the battle.''

I have spent a lot of time reading about Sun Tzu and reading his work. His work was way ahead of his time. I think that it is amazing that modern day nations still utilize his ideas that were originally written down on bamboo strips.