Clausewitz und der Kampf um Anerkennung in hybriden Kriegen – zur Motivation von IS Kämpfern

Clausewitz's concept of the „wondrous trinity“ understands war essentially as a hybrid form. The hybrid character of war is caused by the instrumental rationality of war as a tool of governments on the one side and its existential dimension on the other side. Clausewitz is well known for his formula of war as a continuation of politics by other means. However, this is a position of the very late Clausewitz; the early Clausewitz developed an existential understanding of warfare. The escalation of violence in existential warfare is caused by the denial of recognition between the fighting communities. Additionally, in existential warfare, violence presents an opportunity of young men with unstable identities in a fractured globalized world to give meaning to their seen-as miserable life.