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The Clauzewitzian Legacy as a Necessary Complement to the Damasco Doctrine

Abstract:

Damask will bring the Colombian Army to transit from an almost exclusive focus on an internal enemy towards an institution capable of executing a larger variety of missions. The inclusion of Damasco’s operational concepts within the curriculum of Colombia’s main war schools—such as the Escuela Militar de Cadetes General José María Córdova (ESMIC) and the Escuela Superior de Guerra (ESDEGUE)—will diffuse and entrench an ontological shift it already initiated. This conceptual jump will involve various alterations to the military culture, philosophy and ideology. Nonetheless, this article argues, the Colombian military needs yet another—and a rather deep—reform of the higher military courses in order to prepare future generals for conceiving and managing ulterior conceptual jumps. In other words, one possible missing element within Damasco may be a piece of politico-strategic doctrine acting as the embryo for the next conceptual jump that will transcend Damasco. This can be achieved, as it shall be discussed herein, by including the Clausewitzian reflexive legacy as an essential element of the curriculum of the Higher Military Studies Course (or CAEM for its Spanish acronym).

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