New Delhi, May 18 -- In his book on strategy in the information age, Everett Carl Dolman presents a startling argument: "The first notion the military strategist must discard is victory, for strategy is not about winning. The pure strategist understands that war is but one aspect of social and political competition, an ongoing interaction that has no finality." Contending that the concept of victory is a tactical concern, he goes on to define strategy as "a plan for attaining continuing advantage."

The following lines are pertinent in the context of the conflict between India and Pakistan. "The goal of strategy is not to culminate events, to establish finality in the discourse between states, but to influence states' discourse in such a ...