More grist for the mill ...
"II. The Political Center of Gravity
The idea of an enemy’s center of gravity (CoG) originates with Clausewitz. He did not use the term consistently, and whether is it truly useful to military commanders is a matter of some dispute. As used here, it is the source of a Political Entity’s power. It that respect, it represents the prime target for Influence Campaigns. If our aim is to bend the enemy’s political will, then the PCoG represents the metaphorical point that we want to concentrate our major efforts.
The problem is that the PCoG is not a piece of armament or a physical location on the battlefield. It is a value laden ideal. It is, in a manner of speaking, an idea about how and why a people bind them together into a Political Entity. But more importantly, it is the source of political decision-making. Any attack on an enemy is designed to affect the enemy’s political will. Even in Kinetic War, it is so. You attack and destroy the enemy’s armies to cause the enemy to lose their will to fight. The destruction of the enemy is the act, but the goal is to cause the enemy to lose their will. The ultimate aim of the physical attack is to affect in the ethereal world of the PCoG.
I identify three types of PCoG: Autocratic, Democratic, and Ideological. These are pure types in the Weberian sense. No real Political Entity exists in these pure forms. But by using pure forms it makes them easier to recognize in the real world. It also makes their advantages and disadvantages clearer.
Autocratic Systems are the easiest to define. Except for some forays into Democratic governance in Ancient Greece and Rome, this this has been the dominant system of governance throughout the world’s history. These are the Monarchies, Empires, Principalities, and other political entities where political power vests in the central leader and their vassals. Historically power transferred down family lines. In the modern age the transition to power is rarely a matter of birthright. Power is seized by the dictator, with or without force, and legitimized by an election where there is only one viable candidate. This is often done with the backing of the majority of the population. As used here, the true autocratic system is not one where the population is enslaved. The majority of the population supports the dictator and is willing to fight and die for them. Think of Hitler or Kim Jong Un. The main point is that, in the eyes of the majority of the population, political power rightly vests in the person of the central leader, making the central leader the appropriate target of any Influence Campaign.
Democratic Systems are relatively new on the world stage. Once seen as the end of history, democracies have been in the decline in the last few years. Democracies are built on the ideal that political power vests in the individual and is granted to the government by the individual. The government acts on behalf of the people to advance the general welfare. Unlike an Autocratic System, the government is answerable to the general population, usually through elections. This means that the true source of political power is the general population and the appropriate target of an Influence Campaign is the general population.
Ideological Systems see a deeply held belief system as the source of political authority. These systems are rare. In most cases an ideology plays a supporting role in either a Democratic or an Autocratic system. For example, the ideal of human rights is a foundational belief in a Democracy, but political power still resides in the people. Three examples are Communism, Fascism, and Political Islam. In each the tenants of the ideology subsume the traditional aspects of political authority listed above. People follow these systems because they believe the core tenants of the Ideology represent revealed truth. Following the Ideology is not just the right path for the adherents, but the true path for all mankind. In that sense Ideological Systems are the most dangerous. All Ideological Systems require human actors to administer the system. There will be a Party Chair or a Caliph, but they are only worldly vessels. The real power lies in the Ideology. Which means the primary target of an Influence Campaign designed against an Ideological System is the Ideology itself."
I also had to add a definition:
12. Influence Campaign. A suite of operations that may include activities that fall into any, or all, of the forms of War (including Terrorism), designed to bend the will of, or destroy, the PCoG.
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