Winning takes effort. Occasionally, a look back in time freshens our thinking, helps us understand politics and the world. In the 5th century BCE, a Chinese strategist named Sun Tzu wrote “The Art of War.” It remains as current today as it was then.
As people look around, trying to make sense of China, Russia, the Middle East, and how President Trump is realigning the world, Sun Tzu comes to mind.
In contrast to Presidents who modeled appeasement – Obama, Biden, and Clinton – and those recklessly interventionist – George W. Bush – Trump’s national security is practical, effective, links economics to military power, and is strategic.
If you wonder why China is suddenly cautious, Iran is now a second-tier player, Russia is talking, or why alliances and peace accords are getting inked, look no further than Trump’s instinctive application of Sun Tzu’s principles.
Wrote the Chinese strategist 2500 years ago: “The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin.”
Internally and externally, clear lines create deterrence, rules that, if violated, produce predictable results. To avoid war – and to win – preparedness, foresight, authenticity, and follow-through are decisive.
As the world watches Trump say what he will do, and then do it, a cadence is established, predictability guiding bad actors to hesitate, rethink, step back.
As Sun Tzu advised, in a sentiment echoed by everyone from George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, “To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting,” or “peace through strength.”
Likewise, we watch Trump elevate NATO, Pacific allies, and Israel, then decisively end Iran’s nuclear program without a war. He shuts down the border, deports alien felons, and selectively stabilizes violent cities with National Guard – as ten presidents have – yet respects state power, all shadows of Sun Tzu.
Wrote the old philosopher: “He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.” Thus, Trump – like Reagan, TR, and our Founders – is essentially a non-interventionist, no wars for conquest but surgical engagements.
Why does Trump win so often in international contests and political environments? He knows his opponents and enemies, has smart people around him who know them, and knows the stretch power of his team.
As Sun Tzu wrote: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will also suffer defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
One may reasonably ask, why is Trump as confident as he is, or, for that matter, why were Washington, TR, Patton, or Reagan?
In sports, why were Eric Liddle (1924 Olympics), Roger Bannister (four-minute mile), Joe Namath (Super Bowl III), Jimmy Connors (top five times), and Tom Brady (seven Super Bowl wins) so innately confident?
The answer is simple and complex, chicken and egg, but important. They were all prepared, believed, fought without compromise, and were resilient. They believed, to borrow from Colin Powell, “confidence is a force multiplier.” They committed fully.
Wrote Sun Tzu, “What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.” But winning with ease is a function of understanding the foe, planning long ahead by instinct or calculation.
“Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the enemy’s purpose,” and being perpetually ahead. Sun Tzu saw value in being underestimated, even in being misunderstood.
Not surprisingly, a wellspring of energy, effort, and attention to detail matters, whether in a political or military setting, and so in selecting those on whom to depend, the good leader is discerning. Trump, as a leader, does that too.
Why does Trump take the field first, over and over, whether with China, North Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Iran, or Venezuela? Why is he a first mover?
“Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.” If this is often literally so, but also psychologically so.
Timing of words and deeds, by instinct or planning, is essential, circumspect but decisive. “The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.” Even in persuasion, it matters.
Maybe the most interesting aspect of Sun Tzu was that he was not a one-dimensional fighter, as neither our Founders – who were good with words and deeds, pen and sword – nor Lincoln himself were; they were multidimensional.
As the philosopher’s famous line advises, “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” That is both an offensive fact and a warning.
Today, in a world awash with mindless socialists, neo-communists, and chaos-promoting violent adversaries, the reverse must be kept in mind. The way the left aims to overtake America is to convince us we have already lost.
Main point: We have not lost, but we also have not yet retaken the high ground, persuaded the less thoughtful to think, to understand leftism is fatal.
Now is the time to think harder, be strategic, learn from our Founders, Lincoln, TR, Reagan, Trump, and Sun Tzu – and then apply those lessons. Winning takes effort.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is the National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor (please visit BobbyforMaine.com to learn more)!
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