The Conqueror Is Always A Lover

From On War, this insight challenges a common assumption: that taking the offensive is inherently advantageous. Clausewitz argues that the defender, by forcing an attacker to commit forces and reveal intentions, can exploit the moment of overextension. A side that presses an attack beyond its culminating point becomes the weaker party — and the "conqueror" prefers to avoid this risk by meeting no resistance at all. The paradox was cited by 20th-century theorists as a warning against appeasement, since it showed that making resistance credible deters aggression more effectively than conciliation.