Victory Is Not Enough: Strategy, Legitimacy, and the Making of Durable Power

This monograph develops a comparative theory of durable power. It argues that victory is not sufficient for political durability: tactical success must be transformed into strategic capacity, and strategic capacity must in turn be institutionalized as legitimate order. The argument is organized around a three-level model of power: stratagem, strategy, and order. It brings classical strategy, early modern political theory, and modern theories of power into a single analytical frame, drawing on Sun Tzu, Musashi, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Foucault, Lukes, and Arendt. Through selected stress tests, including Rome, post-apartheid South Africa, and Iraq after 2003, the study offers a framework for distinguishing momentary advantage from durable political order.