SECTION A
Essay
125 marks
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
WRITE IN
90 min
1,000–1,200 words
Reading the topic
This line is from Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War'. It says the highest strategy wins without battle, through deterrence, diplomacy, alliances, economic strength and psychological advantage. The examiner expects the essay to apply it to statecraft and India's security, and also to personal and organisational conflict, while noting when force becomes unavoidable.
ThesisThe highest form of strength is the ability to make war unnecessary, by combining credible deterrence, diplomacy and soft power so that adversaries choose not to fight.
Dimensions to cover
- 1Strategy: deterrence works when an adversary believes the cost of attack exceeds any gain, preventing war without firing a shot
- 2Diplomacy: negotiation, back channels and alliances can isolate an aggressor more effectively than battle
- 3Economy: trade dependencies, sanctions and technology controls are now tools to pressure rivals without combat
- 4Soft power: culture, values and development partnerships win influence and goodwill that make hostility costly
- 5Ethics: winning without fighting spares lives, but coercion through disinformation or economic blackmail raises its own moral questions
- 6Limits: against an adversary determined to attack, the capacity and readiness to fight remain the basis of not having to
Counter-view
- Realists may argue that some enemies, like terrorist groups, cannot be subdued without force. The essay should accept that force is sometimes necessary, but show that even then it works best when backed by deterrence, diplomacy and information strategy
Open and close
- Open: Begin in October 1962, with Soviet ships approaching the US naval blockade off Cuba and the world waiting to see whether either side would fire first
- Close: Conclude that the art lies in being strong enough to fight and wise enough not to need to
Where marks usually go
- Writing a pacifist essay that ignores the need for military capability behind deterrence
- Producing a GS-3 internal security answer full of operation names without the strategic idea
- Ignoring personal, corporate and political applications of winning without conflict
Examples that fit
- ThinkerKautilya ranked the four upayas of sama, dana, bheda and danda, using conciliation, gifts and division before force, a close Indian parallel to Sun Tzu.Arthashastra, Kautilya (trans. R. P. Kangle)
- HistoryThe Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 ended through blockade, back-channel talks and mutual concessions rather than nuclear war.Thirteen Days, Robert F. Kennedy; John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
- CaseIndia's 2003 nuclear doctrine of credible minimum deterrence and no first use aims to prevent war by making attack too costly.Cabinet Committee on Security press release, January 2003, Government of India
- CurrentThe UN General Assembly declared 21 June as International Day of Yoga in 2014 after India's proposal, an example of influence won through culture.UN General Assembly Resolution 69/131 (2014)