Episode 05 The Strategies of War

07/14/19 • 8 min

The best approach is to go after the opponent’s strategy and defuse their initiative to fight; the second-best course of action is to work for a diplomatic victory; physical confrontation is fine in the absence of smarter solutions; but siege warfare should only be the last resort.

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Episode 04 The Accounting of War

Sun Tzu examined the social and economic cost of war, and the law of supply and demand. Wars are costly, and costlier still if they are prolonged, so it is best to move fast and aim for a quick victory.

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Episode 06 The Ji and Zheng

In Chinese, zheng refers to something that is fundamental; while ji means something odd or extraordinary. Sun Tzu believed that to be successful in war, there needs to be a balance between these two.