Overview

I propose to consider first the various elements of the subject, next its various (or individual or separate) parts or sections and finally the whole in its internal structure. In other words, I shall proceed from the simple to the complex. But in war more than in any other subject, we must begin by looking at the nature of the whole; for here more than elsewhere, the part and the whole must always be thought of together ... in war as in life generally all parts of a whole are interconnected and thus the effects produced, however small their cause, must influence all subsequent military operations and modify their outcome to some degree, however slight. In the same way, every means must influence even the ultimate purpose.

Carl von Clausewitz, Prussian military theorist (1780-1831)

Recall, from our introductory remarks in chapter 1, that CNA s Complexity & Combat study which eventually culminated in the development of EINSTein (an in-depth discussion of which begins in chapter 4) was initially focused only on providing a broad overview of possible appliations of the new sciences (i.e., nonlinear dynamical system and complex adaptive system theories) to warfare. This early stage of the project produced two main reports: (1) Land Warfare and Complexity, Part I: Mathematical Background and Technical Sourcebook [Ilach96a], which provides a semi-technical review of the hew sciences and many of whose elements are contained in chapter 2, and (2) Land Warfare and Complexity, Part II: An Assessment of the Applicability...