The Art of War on Terror

Recognized by Foreword Magazine's Book Award as one of the best Philosophy books of the year. 

Two books in one, the complete award-winning, 2001 Gagliardi translation of Sun Tzu's The Art of War and a stanza-by-stanza adaptation of its principles for combatting terrorism.


Twenty-five hundred years ago, the great general Sun Tzu discovered the principles of a powerful competitive strategy based on knowing how to compare forces. Today, his lessons are more important than ever if we want to understand the current war against terror. The purpose of this book is to analyze the long-term, strategic issues of this war using Sun Tzu's classical principles.


Many of the lessons that emerge from this analysis are startling. For example, we learn that, strategically, the key battleground in the War on Terror is not just in the Middle East, but on our television screens. Sun Tzu forces us to look at the economics of terror and how our enemies' action generates income for them. From this perspective, terrorists' acts have more in common with an advertising program than with a traditional war.


One of the most important ideas that emerges from this book is a clear definition of terrorism. Terrorists are those who threaten innocent people to blackmail others into submission. Today, this philosophy unites North Korea's leaders, suicide bombers, and the Arab militias in the Sudan. All hope to leverage our compassion for the innocent against us.