Curiously, the  state that the American empire more and more resembles is not the one described in early modern or classical political theory.

American empire is more like the notoriously spy-ridden empire of the 4th century (BC) Indian empire of the Mauryas.

“No-touch torture,” “silent airwar,” “shadow statistics,” “endless surveillance”: these resemble nothing more than the empire of Chandragupta Maurya, one of India’s most successful conquerors.

Chandragupta’s minister, Chanakya, (Kautilya is the Greek form), is a little known theorist in the West, where he is sometimes seen as a political realist because of his most famous dictum: “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” sometimes called the Mandala theory of foreign policy.

But if by realism one means the “balance of power,” this isn’t what Chanakya wanted.

Chanakya saw the goal of politics not as maintaining peace but as augmenting power.

He advocated a ceaseless growth in power through concealed means, the strategy that seems to underlie such differing aspects of the American empire as the “white noise” of its air-power (see my piece, “America’s Downing Syndrome,”  Dissident Voice, 2006) and the increasing levels of electronic surveillance, propaganda and psyops (see another piece in 2006, “Kartoon-Krieg: War by Other Means,” Counter Currents, 2006)

Kautilya’s writing preceded by 2000 plus years the current theory of war of American empire – what some now call 5th Generation War.

5GWhas been described thus by one expert on it:

“Open source warfare. An ability to decentralize beyond the limits of a single group (way beyond cell structures) using new development and coordination methodologies. This new structure doesn’t only radically expand the number of potential participants, it shrinks the group size well below any normal measures of viability. This organizational structure creates a dynamic whereby new entrants can appear anywhere. In London, Madrid, Berlin, and New York.

Systems disruption. A method of sabotage that goes beyond the simple destruction of physical infrastructure. This method of warfare, which can burst onto the scene as a black swan, uses network dynamics (a new form of leveraged maneuver) to undermine and reorder global systems. It is through this Schumpeterian “creative destruction” that new environments favorable to opposition forces are built (often due to a descent into primary loyalties and pressure from global markets).

Virtual states (ala Philip Bobbitt). Unlike the guerrilla movements of the past, many of the 4GW forces we are fighting today have found a way to integrate their activities with global “crime.” No longer are guerrilla movements or terrorists aimed at taking control of the reigns of the state or merely proxies for states. A new form of economic sustenance has been found. This black globalization is already vast (a GDP of trillions per year), and gains momentum through weakening and disruption of states. This military/economic integration creates a virtuous feedback loop that allows groups to gain greater degrees of independence and financial wealth through the warfare they conduct.”

(more by blogger John Robb )

Robb describes 5GW as having been brewed in Iraq while Citizen Fouche at the Committee of Public Safety is blunt about the motives.

Time for the American people to quit “sleepwalking.”  Instead of clinging to the naive belief that civil society should be free of the tactics and goals of war (and that war should be open and conducted justly and legally),  the public should wise up.

5 WH proponents tell them what they need to wise up about:

War is not just violence and destruction. War is also anything you do to force someone to act against their will.

The first perspective is the perspective of Clausewitz, the second that of  pre-modern theorists like Sun Tzu and Kautilya.

All this sounds very deep and sophisticated until you strip off the jargon. Despite the exotic aura of eastern classical texts to it, I don’t see how the new strategy is anything more than a very old temptation gone one better. The temptation of power. Absolute power.

Under classical rules of engagement, in limited war, ones moral sense can remain intact.

The new varieties of total war – which is all 5GW amounts to – leave nothing intact, even among people who don’t know it exists —  because it creates a bubble of lies in which their minds are manipulated perpetually.

Turns out oriental despotism is whatso-called patriots admire.

Maybe someone should point out that America’s own republican tradition, despite all its follies, hypocrisies and failures, did at least pay lip-service  to truth and peace as the way of life proper to a society.