Defense Against the Dark Arts In Space

It is hard to imagine that Sun Tzu ever conceived of as “precipitous” a “height” or as “sunny” a “spot” as Earth orbit. But it is fascinating to wonder, if he had, would it have changed his perception of how battles would be fought and how wars could be won. Military theorists (and science fiction screenwriters) have often resorted to pronouncements taken from Sun Tzu to explain the basis of their decisions or to justify the boldness of their approach. But perhaps the true import of Sun Tzu’s words is to operational commanders on how to best disposition forces and, more critically, how to identify the route to victory. If that is true, then clearly Russian and Chinese space strategists learned from a different Sun Tzu admonishment: “So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.”